JOINT DRUG ROUNDUP LEADS TO 44 ARRESTS

Grand Jury Hands Down Secret Indictments Against 68
People.

HAMILTON - A joint drug roundup operation this week has led to the
arrest of 44 people by Wednesday afternoon on felony charges,
according to the Butler County Sheriff's Office.

The Butler County Prosecutor's Office, the warrants division and
regional narcotics unit with the sheriff's office, county probation
department, United States Marshals, and police departments from West
Chester Twp., Fairfield Twp., Monroe and Oxford all participated in
the operation that began Tuesday.

Most arrests were made in Butler County, but some arrests did extend
into the Dayton, Cincinnati and Fostoria.

A total of 69 secret indictments were handed down Monday by a Butler
County grand jury for 68 people, all resulting from numerous
undercover drug operations over the past year.

"This is probably the biggest one we have ever done since I have been
sheriff," said Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones. "It's the most
people arrested at one time."

He pointed to a recent prostitution sting in Hamilton that resulted in
eight arrests and massive amount of scrap metal thefts throughout the
county as reasons for the drug sweep.

"It's all tied to drugs," said Jones, who added the indictments are
primarily for suspects accused of selling drugs to undercover
officers. "Most of these are trafficking charges."

Sgt. Todd Langmeyer, commander of the sheriff's office drug task force
said undercover buys involved all types of drugs, including heroin,
cocaine, marijuana, crack and prescription drugs.

"We got a whole lot of pills," Langmeyer said. He said he is hopeful
the massive amount of arrests will slow down drug activity and
supplies for "a while."

With indictments in hand, 25 law enforcement officers began serving
warrants early Tuesday.

"We are constantly fighting the war on drugs, and having this
cooperative effort from all those involved is great," said Jones.
"These secret indictments are the result of many hours of undercover
work spanning many months of investigations, with a tremendous amount
of support by numerous agencies.

Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said the indictment list would
be unsealed in about a week.