Wise County, Va., authorities targeted 31 people for arrest Wednesday after a drug task force investigation and grand jury indictments.
Twelve are charged with distribution of buprenorphine, a prescription drug used to treat opioid painkiller addiction that is sold under the name Suboxone.
“We are seeing an increase in this substance being sold on the street,” said Suzanne Kerney-Quillen, deputy commonwealth’s attorney for Wise County.
Kerney-Quillen said the drug, an alternative to methadone, appeared in Wise County in December 2007, but has grown more popular the past six to eight months.
Other drugs named in a record of the 31 arrests include Percocet, cocaine, Lortab, OxyContin, Sulindac and Adderall.
The arrests, made by the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, Southwest Narcotics Task Force, Virginia State Police and Big Stone Gap and Appalachia police, are the latest in more than 450 arrests made in Southwest Virginia since the drug task force began in 2005, according to the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.
“We hope we have made it clear that we are going to pursue these cases and we are going to aggressively prosecute people,” said Kerney-Quillen. “As long as people continue to sell drugs in Wise County, the investigation will continue.”
Those arrested as of 5 p.m. Wednesday:
* Julie Vene Terry, 43, of Big Stone Gap;
* Arnette Eskridge, 31, of Big Stone Gap;
* Tina Lou Westermoreland, 31, of Big Stone Gap;
* Joseph Wayne Carroll, 27, of Big Stone Gap;
* Dustin Loyd Stratton, 24, of Big Stone Gap;
* Glenn Raymond Mabe, 37, of Big Stone Gap;
* Cyndi Anderson, 28, of Big Stone Gap;
* Michael Allen Johnson, 48, of Appalachia;
* Larry Hurley, 58, of Appalachia;
* Julia Leigh Morris, 40, of Appalachia;
* Christopher Farmer, 25, of Big Stone Gap
* Keira Moore, 26, of Big Stone Gap;
* Shaun Clifton, 23, of Big Stone Gap;
* Brian Lovell, 55, of Big Stone Gap;
* Brandi Scalf, 26, of Appalachia;
* Melissa Sue Anderson, 23, of Big Stone Gap;
* Sheila Jo Witt, 33, of Appalachia;
* Anthony Scott Burton, 31, of East Stone Gap;
* Wanda Collier, 46, of Big Stone Gap;
* Todd Winston Scalf, 26, of Appalachia;
* Scotty Allen Baldwin, 28, of Big Stone Gap;
* Diane Fogarty, 47, of Big Stone Gap;
* Amy Joy Roberts, 32, of Big Stone Gap.
dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701
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