BY ANDY GARDNER

North Country This Week

CANTON -- The continuation of an investigation into a drug trafficking organization has now netted drug-related counts against 44 people.

St. Lawrence County officials announced the arrests occurred Monday, Aug. 10 as part of what police call Operation Drop. The 44 suspects is the total of those arrested as part of the case in May, plus those arrested Aug. 10.

District Attorney Gary Pasqua said the majority of those charged Aug. 10 are St. Lawrence County residents. Their names were not immediately available, but officials said they would be released soon.

Sheriff Brooks Bigwarfe said the charges come from an 80-count indictment handed up by a St. Lawrence County grand jury.

He said the case involved "covert surveillance aimed at rooting out heroin, fentanyl and cocaine dealers in St. Lawrence County, as well as dealers who were the head of this trafficking organization."

He said this phase of the investigation focused on locals who brought dealers from other areas to sell cocaine, heroin and fentanyl here. He said the probe is connected to a Bloods-affiliated street gang called ST8Drop.

He said the case so far has resulted in seizures of 6 pounds, 12 ounces of cocaine, 279 grams of fentanyl, 2,737 packets of heroin and fentanyl and $80,000 in US currency.

County officials said they wouldn't have been able to manage the effort without help from the federal Department of Homeland Security.

"A lot of our overtime is paid for by federal agencies," Bigwarfe said. "It takes a lot of manpower, a lot of money."

This case also involved investigators from the United States Postal Service.

"Sometimes things are shipped through the mail, illegal drugs," Bigwarfe said. "They help us on many investigations."

District Attorney Gary Pasqua said the investigation started with information developed at local police agencies like those in Massena, Potsdam, Canton, Ogdensburg and Gouverneur.

"Those officers are an exceptional resource for what is going on in our county. 

"Those police officers that go out every day ... are able to facilitate information toward these drug enterprises," said St. Lawrence County Undersheriff Sean O'Brien. "Without the hard work of those people ... who go out and get that information every day, none of us would be standing here."

And the case also expanded over international borders, according to Kevin Kelly, special agent in charge of HSI's Buffalo Field Office. He traveled to St. Lawrence County from Buffalo to speak at a press conference announcing the charges. He pointed to the fact that fentanyl tends to originate in Mexico or China.

"I'm not saying we will go into every country and enforce a law. We will work with attaché offices to at least try to broaden the conspiracy, if we can."