Drug-related arrests increase

Gazette Staff

From late April through May, the combined efforts of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force, Whitman County Sheriff’s Office and local police departments resulted in 16 drug-related arrests in the county, many of them on charges of delivery of controlled substances. Of the arrests, five evolved from traffic stops and 11 resulted from task force investigation and warranted home-searches.

“The recent busts were a product of good police work and really pushing the enforcement on information we had that we could act on,” said Sheriff Brett Meyers. “Based on additional leads, we expect there to be more.”

The arrests resulted in the seizing of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, hydrocodone, paraphernalia, packaging and more than $13,000 in cash, according to the sheriff’s office records. One aspect of the recent arrests is the frequency of heroin possession.

Although prescription opioids have long been a consistent find for law enforcement officers, heroin use has rapidly increased.

“We have lagged behind with the heroin epidemic here in our county,” said Meyers. “Ten years ago we saw heroin maybe twice a year, but now we see it on a regular basis.”

Interrupting illegal trafficking of narcotics within the Lewiston/Clarkston and Moscow/Pullman area is a primary goal of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force, and it does this, in part, by ensuring an efficient and effective mechanism for regional agencies to share information.

“We know that many of the same people we encounter here in the Colfax area are potentially the same ones in the valley or over in Moscow, for instance,” said Meyers.

According to Meyers, 30 to 40 percent of arrests for drug-related offenses are individuals that local law officers have dealt with before.

There is also a consistent influx of new offenders and traffickers.

“It’s a bit like a weed patch. You can get on top of it, but then you have to keep at it regularly to really keep it under control,” Sheriff Meyers commented.