ELKINS, W. Va. — After its first full year in existence, the Mountain Region Drug Task Force reflected on its success in 2014.
The task force comprised of members from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the DEA, the U.S. Forest Service, the West Virginia State Police and the Sheriff and Prosecuting Attorney’s Offices in Tucker, Randolph and Pocahontas Counties were responsible for the investigations which led to 47 individuals being prosecuted in federal court.
“This is what you have when you have dedicated people to do nothing but work drug and violent crime investigations,” Randolph County Sheriff Mark T. Brady said. “When the Troopers, Deputies and Patrolman are out working, they also have to take other calls. We do not have the dedicated resources until this task force became available.”
The task force was also able to seize more than $31,000 in U.S. currency, two residences used to distribute controlled substances, two motor vehicles, multiple firearms and money judgments in excess of $400,000.
These resource will help fuel the work done by the organization.
“There are some administrative fees that come out of that. The rest of it will go back into the Mountain Region Drug Task Force for investigations, for buy money, for equipment and other need of the task force,” U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said.
Though Ihlenfeld said the task force has been able to improve greatly over the year due to it’s ability to recognize when suspects are working on a larger scale and cooperate with task forces in other areas, a big engine for its efficient work has been public support.
“Some of the best information we get comes from people who see something suspicious going on in their neighborhood and they’re not quite sure what’s going on. They suspect it might be drug activity,” Ihlenfeld said. “Without them telling us, we have no way of putting eyes on it and possibly opening up an investigation.”
Members of the task force emphasized the various avenues to provide tips, such as the Task Force hotline, 304-636-TIPS, the website mountainregiondtf.com and even by mailing in tips to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. All tips can remain anonymous.
With the public’s cooperation and information, Sheriff Brady sees more success for the task force in 2015.
“We want Randolph County, Tucker County, Pocahontas County and all the other counties in West Virginia to be able to combat the drug problem to make sure we get rid of drugs,” Brady said. “We don’t want any more drug dealers coming to our communities.”