The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department has revealed some details about Wednesday’s FBI operations around the area.
The FBI confirmed to us Wednesday it was in the county conducting law enforcement activities, although it declined to provide specifics. However, Berrien County Sheriff Chuck Heit addressed county commissioners Thursday to announce some of the results of his department’s cooperation with the FBI raids.
“There were 14 search warrants that were conducted throughout Berrien County,” Heit said. “Three people were lodged on federal charges. One lodged on state charges. Five pistols, firearms were recovered. One was stolen. Ten federal indictments are most likely coming in the near future.”
The Southwest Enforcement Team, which often handles drug investigations, assisted the FBI, and Heit said there were some drug seizures.
“One gram of crystal meth, 2,550 grams of fentanyl and heroin, 15 ounces of codeine syrup, two pounds of marijuana, 4.2 grams of crack cocaine, 603 grams of cocaine, two pill presses, and one kilo press.”
Heit said county resources were used to assist federal law enforcement as suspects that had been under investigation for years were brought into custody.
“The tactical response unit, three canines. We did have nine patrol deputies, a large amount of the FBI DA office worked out of our EOC. So there was a big thank you from the FBI to the county for the resources that we had.”
Heit said the sheriff’s department is sometimes questioned for cooperating with federal law enforcement, but Wednesday’s actions helped to make Berrien County safer. He also said 90% of the resources used as part of Wednesday’s action are available because of Berrien County’s Public Safety Millage.
