Suspected fentanyl recovered in raid
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EAST LIVERPOOL -- The Columbiana County Drug Task Force (DTF) has been hitting hard in East Liverpool.
The raid on Tuesday at 627 Minerva St., where suspected fentanyl was recovered, is estimated by DTF Director Jesse Smith to be probably close to the 10th time the DTF has served a drug warrant/conducted a raid since the city was able to put an officer on the task force back in the spring.
"We have been pretty active there this year," Smith said. He also noted that the numbers recently reported by the police department showing nearly a 50% decrease in drug overdoses this year when compared to this time in 2023 are in line with what they are showing with a decrease on a county level for overdose deaths.
According to Smith, when DTF agents entered the residence, they found a total of five people. All five people in the house are potentially facing felony charges pending state lab results from Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI).
The agents found multiple doses of suspected fentanyl wrapped in individual doses in the basement plus drug paraphernalia consistent with drug trafficking
Three of the five were residents and the other two, according to Smith, were out-of-towners; agents found them hiding in the basement. Chase McDonald, 18, from Akron, and James Lippiatt Jr. (age not available), from Salem, are both charged with obstructing official business for hiding and drug paraphernalia.
Smith said there were no incidents to report from the raid, no one was injured, and everything went relatively smoothly other than the fact that two of them were hiding in the basement.