Justice Criticizes Harris as He Goes Out for Trump | News, sports, jobs

Justice

CHARLESTON – As Gov. Jim Justice hits the road again on behalf of former Republican President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate criticized Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, over the administration’s current border policies and questioned how the elections could be so close.

During his weekly government briefing from the State Capitol Building, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security officials announced the launch of Operation October Sky, a drug interdiction operation involving 27 different agencies, including Homeland Security officials, the West Virginia State Police and local law enforcement.

“I am proud to announce the success of this operation,” Justice said. “We all know the terrible consequences we have all suffered (from the drug crisis), and many in significantly worse ways… But we cannot just focus on treatment. We certainly need treatment without a doubt, but we also need to do something about the drugs flowing across our state lines into West Virginia.”

According to Justice Department, law enforcement officers seized 22 pounds of methamphetamine, half a pound of fentanyl, along with fentanyl pills, heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs. There were 70 misdemeanor arrests and 176 misdemeanor arrests. More than thirty firearms were seized, including fifteen pistols and fourteen rifles. More than $31,000 in drug money was seized.

Rob Cunningham, acting cabinet secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said this was the second operation the department mounted since last year, calling the operation “overwhelmingly successful.” Other partners in the operation included the West Virginia National Guard and the West Virginia Fusion Center.

“By everyone working together, we were able to really make a dent in this fight against illegal drugs,” Cunningham said. “This was a very extensive seizure of more than twenty kilos of methamphetamine in this initiative. I would like to thank all the police officers and the leadership who allowed them to participate. You have truly made a difference in what we can do to protect the people of West Virginia.”

“We released the information and the overwhelming response from our state’s law enforcement authorities was an immediate response to the call to participate,” said Jack Luikart, director of the West Virginia Fusion Center, which identifies possible criminal activity and provides intelligence to state and local law enforcement agencies. “Seizures of the drugs were up significantly from years prior… West Virginia is not a source state, so fentanyl was shipped here at some point. These efforts on a daily basis do make a difference.”

The Justice Department blamed continued trafficking of fentanyl into the state and lax immigration enforcement along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, with fentanyl components entering through cartels from China and Mexico. Justice put the blame on President Joe Biden and Harris, who put Biden in charge of the security strategy at the southern border in 2021.