The U.S. Attorney’s office in Milwaukee, along with other federal, state and area law enforcement agencies, has announced indictments naming 24 people from Kenosha and Racine, and 20 more facing state charges, all accused of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in what’s being called the largest effort of its kind ever in Kenosha County.
At a news conference at the Kenosha Public Museum, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Haanstad said the joint effort included undercover agents, wiretaps and surveillance in taking down an alleged large scale drug enterprise operated by a group known as “The Firm.”
“The misery that’s caused by this type of an operation throughout the community, just the listing of all of the drugs, doesn’t get to the core of the heartbreak caused by a group like this,” said Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman, who said the drugs seized during the sweep are just the “tip of the iceberg.”
“It would be somewhat naive to think that this successful effort will end all drug dealing in our Kenosha area,” said Kenosha County District Attorney Bob Zapf. “But hopefully at the end of this legal process, it will send a strong but simple message to would be drug dealers: you sell drugs, you get arrested, you go to prison.” Zapf called the operation one of the most successful during his long law enforcement career.
“This is the largest coordinated effort in Kenosha County history,” said Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, who noted 15 agencies were involved in the operation. “This is it. This is the biggest one we’ve had.”
WRJN