After months of a joint local-state-federal investigation, a Pennington County drug task force made a major bust Tuesday afternoon that resulted in the seizure of millions of dollars of illegal drugs and over a dozen guns.
Members of the joint Unified Narcotics Task Force executed 3 search warrants at multiple locations in Pennington County and seized 72 pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of up to $2.5-million dollars.
Also swept up in the raids were roughly 10 pounds of cocaine, 6 pounds of heroin, 6,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills, $150,000 in cash and 13 guns.
Task force spokesman Sgt. Casey Kenrick calls it a “big win” for Pennington County and says it’s important to hold dealers “responsible for the violence and addiction they perpetuate in our community.”
The task force includes members from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Highway Patrol and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.
Also involved in the investigation but not part of the task force were the Deadwood Police Department and 3 federal agencies – DEA, Homeland Security, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.