FRANKLIN, Ind.–Thirty-four people have been rounded up in Johnson County, accused of dealing drugs in Operation United Front. Prosecutor Joe Villanueva announced the arrests along side Franklin Police Chief Kirby Cochran, Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison and Johnson Co. Sheriff Duane Burgess.
“There is an opioid epidemic that plagues our cities, our towns and our country. But, methamphetamine is till king in Johnson County,” said Villanueva.
He said the majority of people who were arrested were dealing meth. But, he also had a long list of other drugs that police found in the round-up, to include Xanax, morphine, heroin, fentanyl, ecstasy, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and suboxone, which is used to ween people off of opioids.
Franklin’s chief of police said the busts are necessary to save lives in his city.
“In the city of Franklin alone, I’m speaking for our city, in the last seven and a half months we’ve had 38 overdose calls. Eight of those resulted in deaths,” said Chief Kirby Cochran. “We’re not going to allow these drugs to take over our neighborhoods. As long as I’m chief of police, narcotics enforcement will be a priority.”
Villanueva said there were some unusual arrests in the operation.
“We had somebody sell us some fake heroin and one guy was even charged with theft for giving the buy money to the narcotics officer and then never producing the drugs. He just stole the money.”
He said there were also two mother-daughter duos arrested.
“It’s not often that we see family members get caught or charged with dealing drugs together.”
Villanueva said the people arrested came from all over the county and ranged in age from 24 to 60.
