Hundreds of officers sweep Huntington in massive drug takedown

U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart, representing the Southern District of West Virginia, announced the effort at 11 a.m., after Huntington residents had noticed hours of heavy police presence across the area in the form of helicopters, airplanes and armed officers conducting rapid raids in different neighborhoods.

Stuart first announced the formation of Project Huntington on March 15, in response to the growing opioid epidemic and an uptick of violent crime in southern West Virginia. On Tuesday, in a takedown of federal and state targets, nearly 100 defendants were targeted for arrest, Stuart said in a news release issued prior to the press conference.