District Drug Task Force arrests 27 Thursday in Kay County

By Beverly Bryant/News Director

BLACKWELL — Blackwell Police Chief Dewayne Wood reported the District 8 Drug Task Force has arrested 27 people on drug charges by 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

The operation began with a briefing at 5 a.m., Wood said. Officers from several agencies began picking up suspects by 7 a.m., he said.

Wood said the task force started its investigation in June and worked on it for several months. He said 36 arrest warrants were issued, all for distribution or sales of drugs.

Of the 27 people arrested, 19 were on the original warrant list and eight others were arrested while in the company of others for whom warrants had been issued.

Wood said all of those arrested so far today have been taken to the Kay County Detention Ceenter.

He said he expects several more arrests of the next several days.

The agencies involved in the operation include District Attorney Brian Hermanson’s Drug Task Force; the Blackwell Police Department; the Ponca City Police Department; the Newkirk Police Department; the Kaw Nation Police Department; the Kay County Sheriff’s Office; the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Wildlife Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Helicopters for the operation were provided by the Army Air National Guard and the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

The Blackwell Fire Department also provided support in the event of emergencies.

Wood said the main focus was on Blackwell. Those arrested in other locations included seven or eight people in Ponca City and one in Newkirk.