The South Coast Interagency Narcotics Team and Oregon State Police Methamphetamine Initiative Task Force raided three houses and arrested 17 people in Coos County Wednesday. The arrests came with the culmination of two months of investigative work.

Officers seized or purchased in excess of 2 1/2 pounds of marijuana, 10 ounces of cocaine, and 4 ounces of methamphetamine. SCINT Director Toby Floyd said that amount of marijuana would sell for approximately $10,000, the methamphetamine for $6,500 and the cocaine for $7,500. Additionally,  agents seized more than $5,000 in cash, nine vehicles used in drug crimes and five firearms. Reports involving seven children will be referred to Child Protective Services, the release said.

During July and August, SCINT detectives, with the help of the task force, a group of OSP narcotic detectives assembled from across the state, gathered evidence on drug trafficking in the Coos County area in an operation called “Barb-Less Hook,” according to a SCINT press release.

 In the last year, SCINT has been involved in a variety of narcotics investigations, some of which resulted in Wednesday’s arrests.

“This was a combination of investigations, some longer, some shorter,”  Floyd said.

He said the big push was in July and August when the OSP task force joined forces with SCINT.

During the investigation, agents used saturation patrols,  in which agents in unmarked cars would monitor activity in high drug-trafficking areas and call in dedicated marked cars to make stops and arrests. Additionally, undercover detectives, information gathering, controlled buys of narcotics and drug detection dog searches were used in the investigation.

Police searched houses in Coos Bay, Eastside and Lakeside on Wednesday. Area law enforcement officers executed three search warrants and eight consent searches of residences throughout the investigation. A Coos County Grand Jury handed down 14 indictments resulting in arrest warrants on multiple felony controlled substance-related charges.

“These are very unpredictable circumstances,” Floyd said of the investigation.

No officers were hurt, and nor was anyone from the public.

So far the arrests were all made on state charges, but some may be referred to the federal government for prosecution, he added.

Coos County sheriff’s deputies, OSP troopers and detectives, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, parole and probation officers and police officers from North Bend, Coos Bay, Bandon, Reedsport, Myrtle Point and Coquille were involved in the operation.

Floyd coordinated the investigation that he said involved hundreds of work hours. The SCINT request for assistance was one of only three accepted by the OSP  task force, the press release said. 

While police arrested a large number of suspects, they didn’t confiscate a substantial amount of drugs compared to SCINT’s operation Black Ice in March 2005. In that bust, officers arrested nearly a dozen people and seized more than 9 pounds of crystal methamphetamine in Coos and Douglas counties.

These types of undercover operations would not be possible if not for the presence of a narcotics team in the area, the press release said. 

Due to space restrictions, the suspects in this latest drug bust were booked and released at the Coos County jail.