Large drug operation takes down 17 in Mon County; 4 in Detroit

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — 17 people were arrested locally and four in Detroit as part of Operation Lion’s Den, a multistate investigation with federal, state and local law enforcement that targeted the Maurice Swift drug organization.

Dewayne Haddix, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) made the announcement at a Wednesday press conference at the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department.

Grand juries indict 31 in connection with drug operation in Wetzel, Tyler counties

WHEELING — A total of 31 people from West Virginia and Ohio have been indicted in connection with a drug distribution operation running in Wetzel and Tyler counties.

Bill Powell, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, said Tuesday that 23 indictments were returned by a federal grand jury in Wheeling June 5 in connection to an operation distributing methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

U.S. Attorney announces 69-count indictment charging owners, managers and physicians associated with Hope Clinic

United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced the unsealing of a 69-count indictment charging a total of 12 individuals with operating a “pill mill.”  The indictment charges the owners, managers and physicians associated with HOPE Clinic, which operated as a purported pain management clinic in Beckley, Beaver and Charleston, West Virginia, as well as Wytheville, Virginia, and a related company, with conspiring to distribute oxycodone and other Schedule II controlled substances, not for legitimate medical purposes and outside the usual course of professional practice, from November 2010 to Ju

California man sentenced to federal prison for methamphetamine charge

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A California man caught receiving a shipment of crystal methamphetamine in Huntington earlier this year was sentenced today to three years and a month in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Christian Duran, 34, of San Jose, previously pleaded guilty to attempted possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. 

Thirty-three charged with oxycodone distribution

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Thirty-three individuals have been charged in a 129-count federal indictment as a result of an investigation spanning two states and four North Central West Virginia counties, according to Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen.

Indictments were unsealed today alleging that a group of individuals from Michigan and West Virginia conspired with one another to operate an oxycodone distribution operation in the region.

Police seize $10,000 worth of crystal meth, arrest three men

Officers from the Beckley-Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit arrested three men Monday on drug charges, including one from South Carolina, following investigations at two local motels and a house in Beckley.

Police also seized around $10,000 worth of "crystal meth," a methamphetamine, five guns, heroin, marijuana, $5,000 in cash and a Jeep Patriot allegedly used to transport drugs, Raleigh Sheriff's Chief Detective J.C. Canaday reported Wednesday.

Weekend of busts in Harrison County leads to hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug seizures

Beckley man admits guilt in cross-country drug conspiracy

A Beckley man admitted his involvement Tuesday in a California-to-West Virginia drug conspiracy.

Velarian Sylvester Carter, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in federal court in Beckley, according to a news release from Acting U.S. Attorney Carol Casto’s office.

He faces at least 10 years and up to life in federal prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 13.