The 3rd Judicial District Drug and Violent Crime Task Force had a busy 2022. That trend shows every sign of continuing in 2023.
As methamphetamine, the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl and other drugs continue to flow into Greene County and northeast Tennessee, DTF agents pursue investigations into drug trafficking in the four-county 3rd Judicial District, which includes Greene County.
DTF Director Craig Duncan said this week that in 2022, methamphetamine remained the drug of choice. Much of the highly addictive drug transported to Greene and surrounding counties comes through big cities like Atlanta after it is smuggled across the U.S. border from Mexico.
Drug arrests are a daily occurrence for local law enforcement agencies and the DTF, due in part to enhanced enforcement efforts and investigations that lead to higher level distributors. Drug dealers and users also commit a wide range of other crimes, authorities have said.
About 8,000 grams of meth were confiscated by the DTF and assisting agencies in 2022, Duncan said.
That’s nearly 286 ounces, or about 18 pounds.
“We do seize large amounts of meth. It is king in our district,” Duncan said. “We also seize a large amount of guns. They seem to go hand-in-hand with dealers.”
DTF agents have also “seen an uptick in heroin and I wouldn’t be surprised if fentanyl was mixed in with a lot of drugs,” Duncan said.
The Tennessee Department of Health recently released 2021 fatal drug overdose figures for Greene County.
Overdose deaths from all drugs total 45. Opioid-related drug overdoses total 29. Other categories specified by the Department of Health include 22 deaths attributed to fentanyl, 11 caused by pain relievers, one attributed to heroin and 27 attributed to “any stimulant.”
Health care professionals say users sometimes combine different types of drugs, leading to an overdose. Many other overdoses go unreported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data in 2022 showing overdose deaths nationally from opioids increased from an estimated 70,029 in 2020 to 80,816 in 2021.
Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, and cocaine also continued to increase in 2021, compared to 2020.
In Tennessee, the CDC reported 3,642 drug overdose deaths for the 12-month period ending in August 2022, compared to 3,603 overdose deaths on the 12-month period ending in 2021, an increase of slightly more than 1%. The CDC noted totals are underreported “due to incomplete data.”
Duncan said DTF agents find a variety of illegal drugs available in the 3rd Judicial District, which also includes Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties.
“We still see dealers selling large amounts of meth, and we also are able to buy other drugs, but meth is the most common. We will continue to go after mid- to upper-level dealers,” Duncan said.
Assistance by law enforcement and other agencies is making a difference in taking potentially lethal drugs off the street, Duncan added.
“I think the 3rd DTF, working with patrol officers from our local agencies in Greeneville, Greene Co, Mosheim, Tusculum, and Baileyton, are making a huge difference,” he said.
Duncan said that Greeneville police Chief Tim Ward and Greene County Sheriff Wesley Holt are allocating Tennessee Dangerous Drugs Task Force grant money “to let officers work interdiction patrols looking for drug offenders and this has been very successful.”
Arrests are made after traffic stops and by other means by local police in locations identified as high drug trafficking areas.
More than 40 defendants charged with the sale of methamphetamine were indicted earlier in January by a Greene County Grand Jury and appeared last week for arraignment in Criminal Court.
“We also partner and work very well with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, FBI, federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and U.S. Marshall’s Service on cases,” Duncan said. “The District Attorney General’s office, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office, also are instrumental in our successful prosecution of dealers.”
