POLICE NAB 19 IN DRUG SWEEP THROUGH SEVERAL COUNTIES

JERSEYVILLE -- Nineteen suspected criminals got a rude awakening early
Thursday morning when officers with the Jersey County Sheriff's
Department and the South Central Illinois Drug Task Force placed them
under arrest as part of a multi-county drug sweep.

Jersey County Sheriff Paul Cunningham said all but five of the
suspects were arrested on warrants for serious drug felonies, ranging
from possession of cannabis to delivery of a controlled substance
within 1,000 feet of a school. The drug sweep covered five counties --
Jersey, Madison, Macoupin, Greene and Calhoun -- to find people wanted
on warrants in Jersey County.

Cunningham did not release the names of those arrested Thursday
because he said members of the task force were interviewing many of
them to get information that could lead to other arrests.

The five arrested on charges other than drug felonies had warrants
issued for their arrests on serious traffic charges or other felonies,
the sheriff said.

The drug sweep started about 6:30 a.m. Thursday and continued late
into the day, Cunningham said.

"We still have more to do, more people to pick up, so even though it's
done for the day, we're really not finished with it. We'll be going
back out there," he said. "There's a number of people we're still
looking for, some that we haven't filed (charges) on yet and some that
we have filed (charges) on but didn't find them at their last known
address."

Cunningham said the arrests covered a wide range of drug crimes, but
most of them involved one type of drug.

"Most all of it was cocaine, and a good part of it was pills," he
said. "All but a few involved unlawful delivery, and most of these
people are charged with Class X or Class 1 felonies."

The abuse and illegal sale of prescription drugs OxyContin and
Alprazolam, painkillers and anxiety medication, have become widespread
in Jersey County and the five-county area, authorities said.

"We had one guy who we arrested for cannabis possession that we've
arrested multiple times before. And when we got there, after we
arrested him, he turned over additional cannabis that he had hidden,"
Cunningham said.

The drug sweep was the result of an 18-month investigation.

"This was a big success. We were able to get 19 people off the streets
who are committing serious drug crimes in our community," the sheriff
said.