DRUG BUST A WAKE-UP CALL

The numbers are staggering.

About 620 charges, more than 300 criminal complaints, nearly 160
defendants -- all part of the largest drug bust in Wood County
history. Arrests began Monday and are expected to continue for the
next few weeks.

That's particularly eye-catching because the county typically has 500
criminal complaints in an entire year. Authorities think this
two-week arrest operation is going to net more than half that number.

Wood County Sheriff Thomas Reichert called the mass arrests
unprecedented in central Wisconsin.

The first round included Biron, Grand Rapids and Wisconsin Rapids
residents, and almost all of the defendants were from the Wisconsin
Rapids area. The arrests are the culmination of more than a year of
undercover investigations.

It's hard to fathom law enforcement could round up about 150 people
from the Wisconsin Rapids area for drug offenses in a matter of days.
What's even more difficult to believe is that most of these people
will be charged with dealing or delivering drugs. Imagine how many
customers that involves.

There also were troubling details about how parents might have
involved young people in the sales.

Reichert, who started an initiative called Take Back Our Youth, said
many of the drugs were sold to high-school age children, and some
local parents even were selling to their children's friends.

It's important to realize these people haven't been convicted, and
they remain innocent unless found guilty. But the sheer number
screams that something is wrong here.

While the people arrested weren't all connected as part of a
coordinated group, an investigation did reveal a network of drug
dealers in the community, Reichert said.

Most local residents aren't naive.

They realize drugs are available and that quite a few people know
where and how to get them.

In fact, more than 80 percent of the responses on a recent
unscientific Daily Tribune online poll said there is a drug problem
in central Wisconsin.

So what needs to be done?

Making arrests and targeting drug dealers is probably a good place to start.

But that only will go so far.

If there's a demand, someone will fill it, no matter how many arrests are made.

Did this undercover investigation and resulting sweep through the
community damage the drug delivery infrastructure? Most likely, but
it's hard to say by how much.

An April 26 Daily Tribune editorial said there were no easy answers
to the question of how to deal with drugs in central Wisconsin.

And now, there's no doubt there's a problem.

It's Your Turn

Are you shocked by the number of drug arrests planned in Wood County?
What do you think should be done to address the situation? Send your
comments of 350 words or less to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box
8090, Wisconsin Rapids WI 54495 or editor@wisconsinrapidstribune.com.
Please include your name, phone number and address for verification.