Drug investigation aiming high

Multiple residences were searched by FBI and METRICH-MARMET Drug Task Force members in a drug investigation targeting “upper-level people.”

The law enforcement agencies took to the streets Tuesday morning and afternoon to search three local homes that Maj. Bill Collins with the Marion Police Department classified as “a big deal.”

“More activity is expected with this case, as well,” he said.

The Drug Task Force and FBI searched houses near State Street, Park Street and Bellevue Avenue. Officials confiscated vehicles, drugs and firearms. Special response teams from the Marion Police Department and

Marion County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the searches.

Collins said it was an effort to expose some of the bigger drug dealers in the community and to “ebb the flow of drugs into the community.”

“That’s certainly what we’re doing here,” he said.

Collins said the drug task force worked to get the FBI involved because of the nature of the case. Collins said the case spans “many different cities across many different lines.” The resident agent in the investigation comes from Mansfield, which Collins said “kind of adopted the case with us.”

Collins did not mention what the searches involved or list any persons of interest, but said officers have made “a few arrests” involving “some juveniles.” He declined to comment further on the searches or the case, noting that it is an ongoing investigation. He said he was asked not to release some information.

The case has been active for more than a year, according to Collins. More activity on the case is expected within the next few weeks, he said.

Originally published in the Marion Star on November 13, 2013