Task Force Seizes More Than 60 Pounds Of Meth In LeFlore County

More than a million dollars' worth of meth is off the street after a months-long drug operation in LeFlore County.

66 pounds of meth were seized in total, but law enforcement said this is just one victory in an ongoing battle.

Just under 9,000 people live in Poteau, but Mark Woodward with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said the amount of meth that's being found in and around the town matches a city a hundred times its size.

“You’re talking about over 30 kilos of meth that’s been taken off the streets," Woodward said. "That would be significant for Dallas or Phoenix or Los Angeles.”

The Bureau of Narcotics said it found the drugs through a joint operation with the Poteau Police Department and the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office in a matter of months.

LeFlore County Undersheriff Jim Craig said meth leads to an increase in crime in his community.

“Meth is one of our biggest problems here. It kind of trickles down to everything else, burglaries, thefts, things like that," Craig said.

He said not all of the drugs stay in town.

“We’re right here on the Arkansas line and it goes back and forth between us, between Oklahoma and Arkansas," Craig said.

Craig and Woodward said the busts led them towards something much bigger than LeFlore County.

“This is a significant network that’s being brought down as part of this investigation," Woodward said. “They got into a group that was bringing pounds of meth into LeFlore County. It’s one thing to bring, to have a source that can bring pounds into Oklahoma City or Tulsa, but it really goes to show that this is a problem that can reach all 77 counties.”

Woodward said many of the arrests are still pending because it is still an active investigation.