Drug unit busts heroin traffickers

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A drug unit at Duluth-Superior has arrested 23 people after a six-month investigation into heroin trafficking in the Twin Ports. And as of June 7, the team still sought nine other suspects.

Police say there’s been a large increase in heroin dealing and overdoses in the Duluth-Superior region. Police said they called the investigation “Operation Brownstone” because brown-powder heroin is the type most often seen in the area.

Charges were filed yesterday against seven suspects ranging in age from 21 to 56. Six are from Duluth and one from Cloquet, Minn. Of those arrested so far, 13 were said to be heroin dealers. One was a juvenile.

Duluth Police lieutenant Steve Stracek said they acted alone, and there’s been no identifiable ringleader. Two vehicles were seized, but no weapons were found during the arrests.

Stracek said the heroin had apparently come from Detroit and Minnesota’s Twin Cities. The U.S. Marshals and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives also took part in the drug probe.

Tags: wisconsin, crime, courts, government