Officials meet to discuss progress of Drug Task Force

HUMBOLDT, Tenn. — Law enforcement agencies and government officials came together Wednesday for the annual Drug Task Force meeting. Representatives spoke about how vital the presence of the force is to the community.

“It sounds cliche to say we’re in a war on drugs, but we are. And it seems to me that the drugs and the drug dealers get more dangerous every day,” District Attorney Garry Brown said.

It’s happening right in our neighborhood.

“And it’s not just a war that’s happening in New York and Chicago, or even in Memphis anymore,” District Attorney Brown said. “No, it’s in Humboldt. It’s in Milan. It’s in Trenton. It’s in Brownsville.”

Sheriff Paul Thomas of Gibson County has been on the task force for 12 years and says not only have the efforts of the 28th Judicial District led to 168 open drug cases and 133 felony arrests just this year, but confiscated money and drugs from those crimes have benefited residents.

“I’ve used my seizure money, my asset sharing check with the Drug Task Force, the money they’ve returned back to me, to purchase a car that we decorated as our DARE car. And it travels to schools, it does the parades and we help educate these kids about the pitfalls of drugs,” Sheriff Thomas said.

Even though the task force is proud of their accomplishments, they understand that the war on drugs is a never-ending battle they must continue to fight.

“I probably got 300 or so people in my jail today, 100 percent of them probably are there, they may not have gotten arrested for drugs or alcohol, but they might have been writing bad checks to pay for drugs, or they might have been stealing something to sell to get drugs with,” Sheriff Thomas said.

Drug Task Force agents and representatives say they would not be able to accomplish all that they do without the help of local law enforcement agencies, and they say they hope to keep the force going as long as drugs continue to be an issue.