BROWN COUNTY, Ohio — Three Tri-State men and one woman were arrested and charged with multiple felonies after more than $35,000 worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine were seized by the Brown County Sheriff's Office, investigators said.
According to Sheriff Gordon Ellis, Joshua Childers, Austin Hilderbrand, Niko Adams and Cassi Nicole Thomas were taken into custody between July 25 and July 27 after a year-long investigation into a drug trafficking organization.
The organization would transport drugs from the Cincinnati area into Brown County, investigators said in a press release.
The sheriff said several firearms were also confiscated in the seizure.
"Fentanyl has been a scourge in Southwest Ohio but I'll go so far as to say the nation," Sheriff Gordon Ellis said.
Investigators seized over a pound of methamphetamine and 2.5 ounces of fentanyl. The latter doesn't seem like much, Ellis said, but that weight in fentanyl is the equivalent of 20,000 lethal doses.
"It can be deadly in such small amounts," he said. "It's often used as a filler for other drugs and that gets added because it does have such a significant impact on the human body so it gives you a very strong high right until you die."
Ellis said there have been 10 fatal overdoses in Brown County so far this year, with more cases pending. Eight of those deaths were due to fentanyl.
Childers, of Cincinnati, is facing three counts of trafficking in drugs fentanyl, two counts of trafficking in drugs methamphetamine, one count of possession of drugs fentanyl and one count of tampering with evidence. He is facing the most charges because he was in possession of the confiscated drugs and tried tossing them at the time of his arrest, Ellis said.
Hilderbrand, of Georgetown, is facing two counts of trafficking in drugs methamphetamine and one count of possession of drugs methamphetamine.
Adams, of Cincinnati, is facing one count of trafficking in drugs fentanyl and possession of drugs fentanyl.
Thomas, of Amelia, is facing one count of trafficking in drugs methamphetamine and one count of possession of drugs methamphetamine.
The four suspects are currently being held in the Brown County Jail.
They are scheduled to be in court later this month.
"The investigation was a collaborative effort involving the Brown County Drug Task Force, Brown County Sheriff's Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Mount Orab Police Department, Ripley Police Department, Sardinia Police Department and the Hamilton County Heroin Task Force," said Ellis. "These are the types of arrests that can actually save people's lives so you go home after you've completed something like this with a real sense of job satisfaction."
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