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PARKERSBURG -- The U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Southern and Northern districts of West Virginia are among 10 districts around the country to launch a program targeting synthetic opioids.
Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge seeks to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas and to identify wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers, United States Attorney Mike Stuart for the Southern District said.
The program was announced on Thursday by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. An additional U.S. attorney will be allocated to the districts to focus on implementing the new surge.
Wood County is in the Southern District.
In addition to the new resources of Operation SOS, the Department of Justice previously announced an additional four prosecutors are being allocated to the Southern District of West Virginia. The new prosecutors represent the largest single increase of new prosecutors in the history of the district and the largest percentage increase for any district in the nation, Stuart said.
"In the six months since I became United States Attorney, five additional prosecutors have been allocated to my office," Stuart said. "It is unprecedented. More new positions than Miami, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Phoenix or many of the largest, fastest growing areas in the country. Literally the largest percentage increase of any district in the entire nation."
The number of cases being prosecuted, particularly drugs and violent crimes, has substantially increased, he said. Prosecutions have increased 400 percent in illegal firearms and 80 percent in narcotics, Stuart said.
"With five additional prosecutors, I can assure you this trend will continue and we can dedicate even more resources to our offices in Beckley and Huntington in addition to our growth in Charleston," he said.
The 10 districts have the highest drug overdose death rates. In 2016, 890 people died of drug overdoses in West Virginia, 574 of which occurred in the Southern District of West Virginia. Opioid-related overdoses accounted for 492 of the district's overdose deaths with 226 of them being fentanyl-related.
U.S. Attorneys will choose a county and prosecute every readily provable case involving the distribution of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues and other synthetic opioids, regardless of drug quantity, officials said. The surge will involve a coordinated DEA Special Operations Division operation to ensure that leads from street-level cases are used to identify larger scale distributors, officials said.
Operation SOS was inspired by an initiative of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida involving Manatee County, Sessions said in a press release.
"Our prosecutors in Manatee County, Florida have shown that prosecuting seemingly small synthetic opioids cases can have a big impact and save lives, and we want to replicate their success in the districts that need it most," Sessions said.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Executive Office will send an additional two-year term assistant United States Attorney to each participating district to assist with drug-related prosecutions, Sessions said.
"We fully intend to capitalize on this historic opportunity for West Virginia," Stuart said.
The 10 participating districts are the Northern District of Ohio, the Southern District of Ohio, the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Southern District of West Virginia, the Northern District of West Virginia, the District of Maine, the Eastern District of California, the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the District of New Hampshire.