TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo police in a press conference Tuesday said they have been working with the Drug Enforcement Administration since November of last year to decrease the number of drug-related violent crimes and overdoses in Toledo.
They believe we are now seeing the difference.
TPD Chief Michael Troendle said the department's most recent investigation in partnership with the DEA has come to a successful close and they are ready to introduce Operation Overdrive to the public.
"We are out there, we are working hard, we are trying to get those people that are out there causing harm in our community off the streets," Troendle said. "And just because you don't always see what we are doing, understand that we are out there every day for you."
Troendle said Operation Overdrive is a data-driven approach to solving crime. The efforts included a combination of technology and police work to build cases and link suspects.
A highlight of the investigation was that the partnership between local and national law enforcement allowed the opportunity to prosecute suspects federally.
"This investigation is just another example of how working in partnership with federal state and local law enforcement can have a major impact on the quality of life for citizens in the entire community," said Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the DEA Detroit Field Division.
Greene said 19 people were arrested through the operation, two of whom are set to be prosecuted federally. 14 of those arrests were violent crime arrests.
He also said 39 guns were taken off the streets, which were preliminarily linked to 69 shootings in the city. The operation also led to four controlled substances in distribution amounts being seized.
Greene said the efforts are saving lives.
"I think it's important to remember that just two milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose and these defendants were distributing quantities that had the potential to kill thousands," he said.
Troendle said being able to charge a suspect federally is an important component of the operation and goal of decreasing crime. The hope is to get violent offenders off the street and make Toledo drug-free.
Earlier in July, Toledo police said crime -- especially violent crime -- is down almost across the board for the first half of 2023.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said the operation is indicative of a positive future for the city's anti-crime efforts.
"This is just another tool in our toolbox, but this is a pretty darn important one and it's an indication of the creative way that Chief Troendle and his team have approached fighting crime this year and again one of the reasons our numbers are moving so dramatically in a positive direction," Kapszukiewicz said.