It is no secret that meth use and addiction has plagued the state of Arkansas, as well as our nation. Most Sheriff’s seek to make it a priority upon entering office to combat the use, sale, and distribution of meth in their county and I was not an exception to that when I took office in January of 2017.
In January of 2017, I directed our Criminal Investigation Division to begin conducting a long-term investigation that would specifically target meth dealers in Cleburne County. That investigation, called Operation Lake Ice, culminated in a round up conducted on January 9 of last year which resulted in the arrest of 21 individuals. Officers, agents, and deputies from multiple agencies assisted in that round up effort, which was very successful.
After the close of that round up, I again directed our Criminal Investigations Division, this time to double down on their efforts, specifically targeting meth dealers in Cleburne County. For the past 18 months Cleburne County Detectives, along with Agents of the 16th Judicial Drug Task Force, have worked tirelessly investigating and building cases to put drug dealers behind bars and keep our community as drug free as possible.
I’m proud to announce, that this morning, at 5 am, a briefing began here at the Sheriff’s Office for phase 2 of Operation Lake Ice, which includes warrants for 40 people for dealing primarily meth in Cleburne County and/or trafficking drugs into Cleburne County, along with search warrants for multiple properties. This is the largest roundup conducted by the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office and it reaffirms our commitment to the citizens of Cleburne County in fighting the drug epidemic that is prevalent, not only in Cleburne County, but all across our state and our nation.
For the past few hours, members of multiple agencies have been working to serve those arrest warrants and search warrants and bring each of those suspects to jail. I want to say a special thank you to each of those agencies that have assisted the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office and the 16 Judicial Drug Task Force with the execution of this round up. Those agencies are: the Heber Springs Police Department, Quitman Police Department, Greers Ferry Police Department, Concord Police Department, Rosebud Police Department, Fairfield Bay Police Department, Stone County Sheriff’s Office, Mountain View Police Department, Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Independence County Sheriff’s Office, Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office, Batesville Police Department, Izard County Sheriff’s Office, Searcy Police Department, Central Arkansas Drug Task Force, Arkansas Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole, Arkansas State Police, and the Arkansas Gam e and Fish Commission.
I want to say a special thank you to Detective Long, who has tirelessly worked to coordinate this round up. His hard work and relentless pursuit of meth dealers during Operation Lake Ice have been nothing short of incredible. I also want to specifically thank all the detectives and deputies of the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office, and the agents of the 16th Judicial Drug Task Force for their hard work and dedication to the citizens of Cleburne County. It is their hard work, their sacrifices, and their determination that make operations like this one a success. It is a privilege to work along-side them every day.
Those suspects that are not arrested during today’s round up will be placed on our Most Wanted List, which is found on our website, cleburneso.org. If you have information as to their whereabouts, we ask that you contact the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at (501)362-8143. And if you are dealing meth in Cleburne County, I have a message for you too: Stop dealing, leave Cleburne County, or prepare to go to jail, because we’re coming for you.
