Kentucky drug crackdown yields 200 arrests in Operation Summer Heat

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A sweeping investigation into suspected drug trafficking rings has produced more than 200 arrests and drug seizures valued at nearly $685,000, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. He also touted prevention and treatment programs fighting the deadly addiction epidemic.

A Kentucky State Police investigation, launched three months ago, involved every state police post across the Bluegrass State. The crackdown, dubbed Operation Summer Heat, is ongoing and will result in additional arrests, said State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr.

“Kentuckians in those targeted areas can sleep a little better tonight knowing that these drug dealers have been removed from their communities and will now face prosecution,” Burnett said.

Beshear also announced advances in providing comprehensive treatment for people battling addiction. Four additional Kentucky counties — Breathitt, Jessamine, Lee and Nelson — have been certified as Recovery Ready Communities for the help they provide people overcoming addiction, he said.

Kentucky has made progress with its multi-pronged approach to addiction, the Democratic governor said, pointing to declines in statewide drug overdose deaths the past two years. The state is at the national forefront in the per-capita number of residential drug and alcohol treatment beds, he said.

“Despite this, we know that our work is not yet done,” Beshear said Thursday. “We are still losing far too many people, each one a child of God missed by their families and their communities.”

On the enforcement side, the statewide drug operation has netted 206 arrests on a combined 490 charges, with trafficking in a controlled substance accounting for a majority, Burnett said.

Drug seizures totaled 554 grams of fentanyl, 219 grams of cocaine, 4,862 grams of methamphetamine, 41 grams of heroin, 2,931 fentanyl pills, 50 hydrocodone pills, 64 oxycodone pills and 90 hallucinogens, the commissioner said. The street value of the illicit drugs seized is about $684,953. Authorities also recovered $37,159 in cash, $10,000 in stolen tools and one stolen vehicle during the operation, he said.

“There are now fewer individuals out there that pose a threat to our people,” Beshear said at a news conference. “This was no easy feat — one that put law enforcement face-to-face with danger.”

The operation took out of circulation both lethal narcotics and the money that helps fuel drug trafficking operations, the state police commissioner added.

A total of 1,984 Kentuckians died last year from a drug overdose, down 9.8% from the prior year, according to the 2023 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report. Fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid — was the biggest culprit, accounting for 79% of overdose deaths in 2023, the report said.

Kentucky’s Republican-dominated Legislature escalated the fight against fentanyl this year by passing a sweeping measure that’s meant to combat crime. A key section created harsher penalties when the distribution of fentanyl results in fatal overdoses.

At the federal level, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has steered huge sums of federal funding to his home state of Kentucky over the years to combat its addiction woes.

Beshear on Thursday stressed the importance of treatment, calling it an example of “living our faith and values” by offering second chances for people fighting to overcome addiction. So far, 14 of Kentucky’s 120 counties have gained Recovery Ready certification. The designation recognizes a commitment to providing access to addiction treatment and recovery support and removing barriers to the workforce.

Kentucky can’t “incarcerate our way out of this problem,” said Scott Lockard, public health director for the Kentucky River District Health Department.

“This emptiness left by drugs, we need to fill it with something else,” he said.

Bruce Schreiner, The Associated Press