MERIDIAN – Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced the completion of two recent Fentanyl Strike Force operations that resulted in 23 arrests and six ICE detainers.
The operations were conducted April 30 in Corinth and May 7 in Meridian, according to Fitch’s office.
“We are grateful to work alongside such dedicated and skilled federal, state, and local law enforcement partners,” Fitch said. “Together, we are taking dangerous criminals off the streets and restoring peace and security in our communities.”
Participating agencies included the Alcorn County Sheriff’s Office, Corinth Police Department, Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division, East Mississippi Narcotics Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Tishomingo County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Fitch announced the creation of the Fentanyl Strike Force in 2023 along with the launch of her One Pill Can Kill public education and awareness campaign.
Through the strike force, more than 800 law enforcement officers have been trained to safely handle fentanyl and investigate narcotics cases, according to the attorney general’s office. A recent training in Corinth preceded the operation there.
Fitch’s office said the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office was the first agency in the state to sign up as an ICE 287(g) Task Force partner and the first to complete Task Force enforcement action in Mississippi. The office said all sworn AGO law enforcement officers are trained and certified under the program.
Under the ICE Section 287(g) program, state and local law enforcement agencies may partner with ICE for delegated immigration enforcement related to public safety, including identifying people, lodging immigration detainers and initiating removal proceedings for potentially deportable people booked into jail facilities.
