Battle, not war, won in Brown County drug bust

This week's drug bust that included the arrest of a dozen suspected drug dealers may have little effect on the flow of drugs into Brown County, authorities said Friday.
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"There's a large drug problem in Brown County, cocaine only being one of the drugs that we deal with," said Pat VanLanen, Brown County Drug Task Force leader. "We took four kilos off the street. This is a pretty good bust here … probably one of the largest in the history of the Drug Task Force."

Agents seized about 3 kilograms of cocaine during Wednesday's raids and bought about 1 kilogram of the drug during controlled buys associated with the investigation. A kilogram of cocaine sells for about $30,000, but has a substantially higher street value once it is packaged for sale by the gram or ounce.

"It would be very hard to estimate how big of a dent we put into the cocaine availability here," VanLanen said. "I'm sure we put a heck of a ripple in their business for now, but these aren't the only multi-kilo dealers in this area and I'm sure that the other ones are still operating."

Drug agents from local, state and federal agencies served 14 search warrants Wednesday and arrested a dozen people in connection to an 11-month cocaine and marijuana ring investigation.

The warrants came a day after drug agents bought a half-kilogram of cocaine from a suspect they considered the operation leader.

Eight of the people arrested Wednesday are being held on federal immigration holds in addition to cash bail for pending criminal charges.

Eleven of the suspects appeared in probable cause hearings Thursday in Brown County intake court and are expected to face formal charges next week.

Brown County Sheriff Dennis Kocken applauded the agents' efforts, but said arresting dealers won't solve the county's drug problems, which actually stem from drug users.

"Make no mistake about it … as long as there's demand, as long as people in Brown County want to use drugs, there will be suppliers," Kocken said Friday. "With that being said, we hope this puts a big enough dent in things to at least try to scare some people away.

"We'll never be able to stop them. We've been here for years. At least we're going to take the dealers and let them know that they are not welcome in Brown County."

The investigation into the Brown County drug ring is ongoing, and investigators still are trying to determine where the drugs came from, said Chris Hackbarth, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The suspects arrested Wednesday were connected to drug arrests in Fond du Lac recently and are believed to have connections in Illinois, authorities said.

VanLanen said more arrests are expected.

"We are still following up on leads, talking with cooperating individuals and we are anticipating more arrests," he said.