Behind the scenes: A look at how law enforcement is combatting drugs in Guernsey County

CAMBRIDGE − When it comes to getting drugs off the streets of Guernsey County, a dedicated team of individuals is working tirelessly.

Lt. Sam Williams with the Guernsey County Sheriff's Office leads the local team, which is a part of the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement (CODE) Task Force. "It's a regional drug task force. Years ago there was what they called SENT. It was the Southeastern Ohio Narcotics Task Force. SENT was the big task force in the late '80s and early '90s."

SENT was comprised of various agencies, including the Cambridge Police Department, the Byesville Police Department, the Guernsey County Sheriff's Office, and agencies in Noble and Tuscarawas counties. Due to a lack of funding and grants, SENT had all but run its course by 2009.

"Prior to that, I believe around 2006, 2007, the CODE Task Force started up," Williams said. "The hosting agency is the Licking County Sheriff's Office." The task force serves six counties: Licking, Muskingum, Guernsey, Perry, Knox and Tuscarawas County.

"As members of that, some agencies may only have one narcotics investigator that they can dedicate. Sometimes that narcotics investigator also does general cases. They're having to do homicides, sexual assaults, property crimes, and trying to do drug stuff. Licking County has several flat-out narcotics investigators. That's why they're the hosting county," Williams added.

'Our agency is aggressive'

Being a member of the task force doesn't come with many perks. The biggest and arguably most important one is added manpower when a situation calls for it. The Guernsey County office has three general case detectives and three narcotics detectives. "We have three guys dedicated primarily to narcotics and that's all they focus on. We can also pull them if we get a serious situation. Their primary function is drug enforcement − and that's everything from drug interdiction, going out and stopping vehicles, trying to get drugs out of traffic stops as well as self-initiated, in-depth, sometimes long-term criminal investigations," Williams said.

"Our agency is very aggressive when it comes to tools to help us combat these things. That can be anything from confidential sources up to equipment and different resources like that. There's databases strictly for law enforcement we can use to get intel that way. Who lives here? How long have they lived here? What vehicles do they have registered to them? All that kind of stuff."

Funding for the investigators comes from various sources. One of the investigators' positions is funded through the state as part of the bulk unit through CODE. The assigned bulk unit investigator focuses on hotels, motels, interstates, rest stops and locations of that nature. The state bulk team serves all of Ohio and will coordinate with Guernsey County when they want to saturate the county. At times, the Guernsey bulk investigator has to go out of the county with the bulk unit, while the other two investigators continue work locally.

A day in the life

Being a narcotics investigator doesn't fit your typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday.

"A normal day is probably about as non-routine as you can get when you think about law enforcement" Williams noted. "They are very systemically unsystematic. They come in directly from their house in their unmarked cars; they're in regular clothes. It's not like the uniformed cops. You can't set a uniformed deputy in front of a suspected narcotics house. They gotta blend in. They're out amongst the community and actively following up on tips."

Williams said the narcotics team investigates every single tip that comes in. While residents may not get an immediate response, he assures them everything is being looked into. "No matter how small (a tip) may be, they are following up on these."

The workload unfortunately is not light.

"It is non-stop. Guernsey County is no different than any other community. I think a lot of times, there's a misconception that Guernsey County is plagued with this terrible drug problem. Everybody is facing the same problems. It's the meth. It's the cocaine − it's back now. Fentanyl. Heroine. We have the same problems as bigger cities and smaller communities. No community is immune from this poison anymore," he says.

One of the biggest issues they see, according to Williams, is locals who leave the area or connect with others from outside the area to bring drugs back into the community. Having one of the nation's largest interchanges with Interstates 70 and 77 doesn't necessarily help. "There are people that are coming in, and maybe stopping at our hotels and doing this. But unfortunately, they've been contacted by somebody. They're coming in. They have a known connection to Guernsey County."

With more than two dozen active criminal investigations underway, it keeps the task force busy.

CODE stats

Between Jan. 1 and April 15 of this year, just in Guernsey County, 15,048 grams of meth with a street value of $22,000 has been seized, as well as 15,048 grams of meth with a street value of $22,000, 4,351 grams of fentanyl with a street value of $172,000; 344 grams of cocaine with street value of $33,000.

To compare, in 2023 officers seized $46,360 worth of meth $28,400 in fentanyl, $2,400 in heroin and $2,400 in cocaine.

Also in the last 12 months, the office has seized two houses, one in the city of Cambridge and one in Cambridge Township.

"This (seizure of homes) is something that kind of hasn't happened since the late '90s, early '00s. That's from having a great working relationship with the Guernsey County prosecutor as well. They're very supportive of our efforts and understand that there have to be deterrents. And people don't like getting their stuff taken. Once you start taking their cash, their firearms, their cars, their houses − that's a bigger deterrent for them," Williams said.

"I will say this. Guernsey County is pretty awesome because people respect law enforcement and they allow (officers) to do their jobs," Williams said. "I think when you start getting things where there is public distrust of law enforcement, that's a bad place to be in. You're not going to get 100% buy in from everybody, it's just not human nature. I get it. We're long past Andy Griffith, where if the cop says it, then he's 100% telling the truth. People want verification and some type of corroboration."We are very fortunate to have the public's trust."

Tips can be sent anonymously to the Guernsey County Sheriff's office and the CODE Task Force by calling 740-439-6300 or visiting tips@guernseysheriff.com. Detailed information including any names or addresses is appreciated.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Officers dedicated to taking drugs off the streets in Guernsey County