Johnson County authorities arrest 34 in Operation United Front

Story courtesy of Network Indiana.

Thirty-four people have been rounded up in Johnson County, accused of dealing drugs in Operation United Front.

Jackson County authorities announced the arrests yesterday.

Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said there is an opioid epidemic, but methamphetamine is still king in Johnson County.  He said the majority of people who were arrested were dealing meth. But, he also had a long list of other drugs that police found in the round-up, to include Xanax, morphine, heroin, fentanyl, ecstasy, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and suboxone, which is used to ween people off of opioids.

Franklin Police Chief Kirby Cochran said the busts are necessary to save lives in his city. There have been 38 overdose calls in the last seven and a half months, he said.

“We’re not going to allow these drugs to take over our neighborhoods,” Cochran said. “As long as I’m chief of police, narcotics enforcement will be a priority.”

Villanueva said there were some unusual arrests in the operation.

“We had somebody sell us some fake heroin and one guy was even charged with theft for giving the buy money to the narcotics officer and then never producing the drugs. He just stole the money.”

He said there were also two mother-daughter duos arrested.

“It’s not often that we see family members get caught or charged with dealing drugs together.”

Villanueva said the people arrested came from all over the county and ranged in age from 24 to 60.