(SALISBURY, MD) – Thirty-nine people accused of a drug-trafficking ring on the Eastern Shore were indicted following a five-month combined law enforcement investigation.
Wicomico Narcotics, a collaborative effort between the Maryland Department of State Police, the Fruitland Police Department, the Office of the State’s Attorney for Wicomico County, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, began a covert investigation in Spring 2024 that culminated in the indictment of 39 people involved in a large-scale drug trafficking operation in Wicomico County. Maryland State Police joined more than two dozen local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in dismantling the sale and distribution of illegal drugs, including cocaine and fentanyl, throughout Wicomico, Dorchester, and Baltimore counties.
In August 2024, Wicomico Narcotics and the Drug Enforcement Administration Salisbury Regional Office served multiple search and seizure warrants in Wicomico, Dorchester, and Baltimore counties. These warrants yielded more than 2,500 grams of suspected cocaine and nearly 30 grams of fentanyl as well as other felony narcotics, fourteen firearms, and four vehicles that were used to transport the drugs.
Wicomico Narcotics received funding for this investigation from the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. Wicomico Narcotics is a designated Washington/Baltimore HIDTA-funded initiative.
Assisting agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration, Maryland State Police, Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, Worcester Sheriff’s Office, Wicomico Sheriff’s Office, Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, Talbot County Sheriff’s Office, Kent County Sheriff’s Office, Caroline County Sheriff’s Office, Strike Force 7, Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office, Eastern Shore Information Center, Homeland Security Investigations, Salisbury Police Department, Ocean City Police Department, and the Maryland Department of Transportation Authority Police.
This operation was supported in part by the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network. The Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy supplies grant funding and strategic assistance to MCIN member sites. These resources enable the identification, disruption, and dismantling of criminal organizations through enhanced inter-agency collaboration and data sharing, contributing to a safer Maryland for all.
If all drugs were decriminalized, our society would be able to deal with problems of addiction or other related irresponsible behaviors as the medical/psychiatric issues they are, rather than as criminal issues. And, more importantly, we could and would eliminate the criminal involvement in the sale and distribution of drugs, so the murderous animals that currently run the criminal enterprises would be put out of business by legitimate regulated legal businesses. Did we learn nothing from Prohibition?
Sorry. You are 100% wrong. How many young folks need to die?
Charles B.
Its not the government or my responsibility for someone who makes bad life choices….LET THEM DIE
Anonymous December 11, 2024 at 10:46 am. You are so, so wrong and I think may have a slight mental disorder.
“The shift from plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, to synthetic, chemical-based drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine, has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “At the heart of the synthetic drug crisis are the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their associates, who DEA is tracking world-wide. The suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and money launderers all play a role in the web of deliberate and calculated treachery orchestrated by these cartels. DEA will continue to use all available resources to target these networks and save American lives.”
Drug-related deaths claimed 107,941 American lives in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are responsible for approximately 70% of lives lost, while methamphetamine and other synthetic stimulants are responsible for approximately 30% of deaths.
So how you you plan to keep Meth, Fentanyl, Cocaine from coming across the border ?
If drugs are decriminalized, how would that eliminate the criminal involvement in the sale and distribution of drugs ?
If all drugs are legal, who do you want to distribute Meth, Fentanyl, Cocaine and other very dangerous and deadly drugs ?
I think you need help. You really seem not to care about humanity at all.
Were you high on drugs when you wrote this ?
So do you want to install vending machines outside of stores like they do with soda vending machines to sell these drugs ?
Pop in a 10 into the slot and get a snort ?
I think you need to go back and study the era of the United States during that time period and read what led to Prohibition. And read what led to its repeal.
You missed one
He drives a White Mustang with Temporary Tags and races up and down Snow Hill Road, Airport Road, Mount Herman road, and races thru the Cardinal Drive neighborhoods