Feds: Lorain County overdoses down 31 percent after 'Operation S.O.S.'

Lorain County saw a 31 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths from 2017 to 2019, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Justin Herdman announced Thursday, crediting the U.S. Department of Justice's "Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge," or S.O.S., with helping reduce the supply of synthetic opioids including Lorain County. The operation, a partnership between federal and local law enforcement, identified wholesale drug trafficking networks along with international and domestic suppliers of the drugs, Herdman said. Operation S.O.S. began two years ago in 10 different U.S. judicial districts where the drug overdose rate was high in part due to the availability of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues and other synthetic opioids. A total of 121 people in Lorain County died of accidental drug overdoses in 2016, and 132 each in the years 2017-2018, according to Lorain County Public Health and law enforcement authorities. In 2019, that number dropped to 89. The operation has resulted in nearly 750 defendants charged in federal court, including 384 this year alone, Herdman said. Overdoses, he said, declined from 14 percent to 24 percent in most counties where Operation SOS was in play. Herdman's office has prosecuted 121 defendants from Lorain County for their involvement in the distribution of opioids since the operation began, he said. Approximately 22 percent of those also possessed a firearm when they committed their federal offense and about 23 percent are classified as "career offenders" with two or more prior convictions for either drug trafficking or violent offenses. The average prison sentence for an Operation S.O.S. defendant in the Northern District of Ohio is just over 70 months, Herdman said. "Drug dealers and other criminals have long targeted Lorain County as an area to exploit and sell their deadly product," he said. "Since 2018, as part of Operation S.O.S, we have committed to assisting our state and local partners by federally prosecuting any fentanyl or opioid trafficking offense from Lorain County. These numbers should send a strong message: If you deal dope in Lorain County, you will face federal prosecution." "The Justice Department's commitment to fighting the opioids epidemic is stronger than ever, and we are using every tool in our arsenal to disrupt the supply of these drugs on our streets," said Deputy U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. "Operation S.O.S has had a significant positive impact on the communities where it is being employed. The Department will continue to build on these successes and work to stop the drug traffickers who so callously wreck lives."