Montgomery task force makes fentanyl bust
Montgomery County task force seizes drugs, $160,000 in cash.
A local rap artist is one of three men arrested during SWAT raids in Trotwood and Dayton.
A local drug task force busted what Montgomery County Sheriff Plummer called a “substantial” fentanyl operation, Wednesday, during a series of SWAT raids in Trotwood and Dayton.
The Regional Agencies Narcotics and Gun Enforcement (RANGE) Task Force, along with FBI agents conducted search warrant raids at four locations, resulting in three arrests and the seizure of four pounds of fentanyl, cash, guns and 10 “upscale” vehicles.
The drugs seized are worth about $160,000, Plummer said.
The sheriff ’s office plans to present the case to a federal prosecutor, meaning those arrested could face 10 years to life in prison if convicted of drug trafficking and other offenses.
“This is that serious,” Plummer said.
Arrested were Darrius Reynolds, Larry Winn, and Clarence Winn Jr., also known as “CCSERVA”, “Chaos Tha Community Serva,” or just “Chaos,” a local rap artist.
Plummer called the men “big players” in the drug game, saying they are not street-level dealers.
“They are selling by the ounce,” he said.
Drug overdose deaths have continued to rise in Montgomery County and across the Miami Valley
as Ohio remains ground zero for the nation’s opioid crisis.
A group of Cedarville pharmacy students spoke to local middle schoolers about the dangers of pain killers, heroin and fentanyl last week, citing the statistic that one in nine heroin overdoses across the U.S. takes place in Ohio.
The talk in Brookville came one day after a Centerville pilot and his wife were found dead by their four children from suspected fentanyl overdoses.
The Montgomery County coroner’s office investigated 145 overdose deaths in January, putting the region on pace to nearly double 2016’s record-setting 355 deaths.
“There’s no end in sight,” said Dr. Kent Harshbarger, coroner, in late January.
Plummer hopes the disruption of this drug dealing operation will help slow the deaths from fentanyl, which is much more potent than heroin. “This might have an impact to slow some of this down,” he said.
Plummer identified the suspects as members of Diamond Cut, a group that has long been recognized by local law enforcement as a criminal gang.
But Clarence Winn Jr. has previously denied that the group is a criminal enterprise.
He told the Dayton Daily News in 2008 that he came up with the concept for his record label Fam First Entertainment and Diamond Cut, a “music movement” a decade earlier. Numerous people who identified themselves as members of Diamond Cut and sported the group’s tattoos, have been convicted in federal drug cases in the past. Five alleged members were convicted following a 2012 raid that netted 100 grams of heroin.