BLOUNT COUNTY, Tennessee — Blount County leaders said an initiative that began in December 2022 is keeping drugs out of the area, and overdose deaths are on the decline.
Multiple agencies across East Tennessee partnered up for the 313 initiative. It's named after a Michigan area code and since it began in December 2022, authorities said they have found around 102 pounds of marijuana, 49 pounds of fentanyl and heroin, as well as around 6 pounds of cocaine.
Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond also said there has been a decrease in overdose deaths. He said in 2021, the number of overdose deaths in East Tennessee was peaking.
“Thousands of Tennesseans losing their lives on an annual basis,” said Desmond. “The meeting occurred, ‘What are we going to do about this?'"
He said authorities relied on drug users to pinpoint where fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances were coming from. They tried to rebuild the supply chain, eventually realizing that most of the drugs originated out of Detroit.
“Law enforcement would ask them, ‘Where are you receiving your drugs?’. And basically painting a picture of a large spider web, trying to find where the center of that spiderweb is. Through the course of hundreds, if not thousands of interviews — we determined almost all of the narcotics in East Tennessee originated from Detroit, Michigan," said Desmond.
He also said there are a few ways to intercept drug drop-offs. First, he said authorities listen to informants to pinpoint places where drugs may be exchanged.
“Once you have a criminal informant, which all of the drug task forces have large webs of criminal informants, they will tell you, ‘Listen there is a shipment of drugs coming into Knoxville around this date and around this time,'" said Desmond.
Then, he said authorities watch for signs that the deal is going down — watching areas where the drugs may be transported.
“If there is a Greyhound bus coming in from Detroit, Michigan to Knoxville, Tennessee — there will be eyes on who is getting off that bus," said Desmond.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said not only have almost 160 pounds of drugs been seized, but 171 guns have also been confiscated and 333 people have been arrested.
General Desmond says overdose deaths have decreased in Blount County by around 30%. He also says the initiative is to keep drugs out of East Tennessee, but also to send a warning to drug dealers who want to send their drugs south.