Drug Kingpin Possible Ties To Muskingum County
Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said there is no doubt that some drugs around the county have come from Mexico.
The Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have a direct link between the county’s drug trade and the notorious kingpin JoaquÃn Archivaldo "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, who escaped from a Mexican prison last weekend.
However, Lutz did say that anyone willing to get involved in the drug trade should be considered dangerous. He said it’s an issue the county will continue to see until drugs stop crossing the boarders.
"Until we do something about our border and we control the amount of drugs flowing into our country, it’s unfair to ask us to eliminate it," Lutz said. "Now, that doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop fighting it. We’re going to continue to fight it as long as I’m Sheriff."
He added even when a top tier drug dealer is arrested, the trade continues. The fight has to continue against the demand for drugs. The Sheriff’s Office does this by educating people before and after they start using drugs.
"We need to focus on the demand," Lutz said. "That’s getting to our kids, getting to these people that are thinking they are going to try drugs for the first time. If we can eliminate the demand then the supply has no where to go."
He estimated that around 90 percent of the cases the Sheriff’s Office handles involve drugs or alcohol. That’s the reason, he said his deputies are trained to be proactive instead of reactive.
