BY DAVE ECK
Enquirer Contributor
MIDDLETOWN -- Police arrested 20 people on felony drug trafficking charges Wednesday after an early-morning sweep of the city.
The arrests were based on 65 secret indictments against 27 people. The charges included the sale of marijuana, prescription drugs, LSD and crack cocaine, said Middletown Police Maj. Mark Hoffman. Seven people remain at large.
"They were felony charges for sales," he said. "We had officers come in this morning and start serving these indictments at 6:30. It's sort of an ongoing thing."
More than 20 officers were involved in the three-hour operation. All but three of the suspects were from Middletown, with one each from Germantown, Franklin and Miamisburg, Maj. Hoffman said.
"There were 18 patrol officers, a couple of supervisors and then we had called in additional communications personnel and additional corrections officers," Maj. Hoffman said. "There were no search warrants, just arrest warrants."
The suspects were taken to the Butler County Jail, where a judge processed them, Maj. Hoffman said.
The Middletown bust exacerbated crowding at the county jail. "The sheriff's forced to have to put cots in the jail garage again," said Capt. Charlie Profitt of the sheriff's office. "It's to the point now where it's critical."
The jail, built in 1970, was designed to hold 80 inmates, but there are now nearly 200 prisoners, Capt. Profitt said. He said new prisoners are being housed in a garage that is usually used for recreation and religious services.
Capt. Profitt said he does not anticipate that any prisoners will be released early to accommodate the most recent arrests. "We can't leave dangerous people out there in society," he said. "We're trying to do the best with what we've got."
