Tennessee law enforcement work to bust Detroit drug pipeline
(CBS DETROIT) – Detroit is the bullseye for law enforcement in Tennessee as part of an effort to stop the flow of deadly drugs from the metro to neighboring states.
They're calling it the "313 Initiative."
Charme Allen, the district attorney for Knox County Tennessee, said Friday they've known for a while now that most of their drugs come from Detroit, so they're now pooling resources to more arrests.
"Many individuals that we have charges against here in the East Tennessee area are Detroit residents," Allen said.
It's a pattern that Allen and her law enforcement partners began to notice around 2015; since then, it's only picked up.
According to Allen, Detroit is the hub of a drug trafficking pipeline serving West Virginia, Kentucky and East Tennessee.
The demand now is higher than ever.
"We have an addiction problem here in the Appalachian region, we have a lot of people who are struggling with addiction, and so I think that we are a ripe market," Allen told CBS News Detroit.
The 313 initiative involves creating a database to help make more arrests through traffic stops and search warrants.
"We are only allowed to prosecute cases that happen within our judicial district," Allen said. "With this type of drug activity, obviously county lines mean nothing to criminals and to drug dealers. So what's happening is the flow of drugs is crossing all these county lines."
The Detroit Police Department told CBS News Detroit that while they're not aware and haven't participated yet in this out-of-state initiative, they hold regular intel meetings with surrounding states about drug trafficking.
In the two months, the initiative has been up and running, they have recovered: 42 pounds of methamphetamine, eight pounds of fentanyl and heroin, taken 29 guns off the street, seized $130,000, and arrested 46 people with ties to Detroit.
The initiative isn't costing taxpayers more money since they're making use of law enforcement that already exists, they're just increasing their collaboration.
"This is no longer a place that you're going to be able to get away with bringing your drugs into our community that we are working together to target those drug traffickers that are trying to bring the drugs into our community, and that we will be successful," Allen said.