BECKLEY, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – The U.S. Marshals Service joined with its partner agencies at a press conference Tuesday morning to reveal the results of Operation Invictus- a warrant roundup that concluded with 44 arrests. The operation was conducted by the CUFF task force, a partnership between the U.S. Marshals Service and the Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney with the help of multiple local agencies.
Michael Baylous, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia, says the operation lasted from September 7 until September 24 in Mercer, Fayette and Raleigh Counties.
Among those arrested were known gang members and a man charged with First-Degree Murder. Other charges include Wanton Endangerment, Malicious Wounding, and varying degrees of sexual abuse.
Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said two individuals who were high on his radar were arrested during the operation. According to Hatfield, both men had alluded detection and apprehension for quite some time.
Through Operation Invictus, law enforcement seized six firearms; numerous weights of meth, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana; and more than $24,000 in U.S. currency, according to Baylous.
“This operation was very successful,” Baylous shared, stating that the public can expect more press conferences detailing the task force’s future successes.
“We want to thank our community partners in the CUFF task force because the Marshals Service is a relatively small agency and one of our tasks is apprehending fugitives,” Baylous said. “It goes a lot better when we all work together and combine our resources. The Marshals Service would not be nearly as effective in what we do without our partners in the task force.”
Hatfield echoed Baylous’ sentiments of cooperation and collaboration.
“For this operation to go down, it’s imperative that we have complete cooperation among all agencies, and I think I can speak for everyone in saying we had that with this case.”
Tuesday’s press conference was attended by Baylous, Hatfield, Sheriff Scott Van Meter with the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department and Deputy Chief of Police Dean Bailey with Beckley City Police. Fayette and Mercer County were not represented at the conference.
