‘We anticipate more arrests’: Taylor County Law Enforcement make arrests in ‘large scale’ drug bust

Noah McKinney
·2 min read
157

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)- Taylor County Sheriff Ricky Bishop and Abilene’s new Chief of Police Ron Seratte held a press conference Thursday to release the results of a four-year investigation that has now seen 17 alleged drug dealers charged, 14 awaiting trial on federal charges.

17 alleged drug dealers arrested after “large scale” drug bust in Abilene

“It’s huge, but this investigation is fluid, it’s continuing, and it’s not gonna stop, and we anticipate many more arrests coming in the very near future,” said Bishop.

The sheriff’s office began the investigation in 2020. Bishop said it quickly became very complex to the point the Abilene Police Department and later the DEA, ATF, IRS crime division, FBI, and Homeland Security became involved, totaling 80 agents. In the Thursday Conference, Bishop stated that 20 kilos of methamphetamine, 721 grams of cocaine, 60 firearms, and 1,370 grams of Fentanyl were seized in the Abilene Area.

<em>APD Chief Ron Seratte and Taylor County Sheriff Ricky Bishop</em>
APD Chief Ron Seratte and Taylor County Sheriff Ricky Bishop

“This investigation has gotten so big there are some instances where we can stretch this to the entire state of Texas, plus the supplier that’s supplying Abilene, which we can probably link to about 12 other states,” Bishop said.

While extensive, Bishop says Abilene has become a centralized location for the trade and distribution of drugs like Fentanyl coming from our nation’s southern border.

“Every bit of this investigation has a direct link to the cartel in Mexico. Which also ties into border security; what is coming across that border and how easy this stuff is getting here across the border to come here and then Abilene being the hub for this area to distribute these narcotics,” said Bishop.

Bishop and Seratte congratulated the 80 agents from their own and federal agencies that have given hours, days, and even years to this investigation, hoping to fight the growing prevalence of the drug in the communities.

“We just can’t recognize them enough to say how much we appreciate their hard work because this has taken four years to get to this point,” Seratte said.

“At one time, meth was the drug of choice for this area. Over the last couple of years, as you can see, Fentanyl has taken the place of methamphetamine,” Bishop stated.

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With the increased availability of Fentanyl and other drugs, Bishop said most all crimes in Taylor County are tied to drugs in some way. He added that further developments in this investigation would likely impact the county crime rate across the board.

“It’s gonna be tough, but if at any point we can control the drug trade, it’s gonna lower our crime rate on everything else,” said Bishop.

Those indicted on Wednesday will stand trial in a federal court within the next 90 days, either in Abilene or in Lubbock, where the charges were filed.

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