Ironton Police Department officials provided information and assisted in a drug raid and arrest that netted more than $95,000 in crack cocaine Thursday.

Saturday, October 30, 1999

Ironton Police Department officials provided information and assisted in a drug raid and arrest that netted more than $95,000 in crack cocaine Thursday.

After more than two months of investigation and undercover operations, the Ironton Police Department and the Lawrence County Drug Taskforce joined forces with the Ashland Police Department to get an alleged major area drug supplier off the streets.

Randall L. Peters, 48, 337 31st St., Ashland, Ky., awaits trial in the Ashland jail today while area police investigators continue to amass evidence of the charges of trafficking in cocaine, IPD Detective Capt. Chris Bowman said.

"This was the result of a lengthy investigation that took several months to complete," Bowman said, adding that Ironton and taskforce members had purchased crack cocaine from Peters on several occasions.

The arrest, however, took place at Peters’s Ashland home, where officers from both states discovered illegal narcotics and cash in excess of $20,000, Bowman said.

Peters, who police say is allegedly one of the major suppliers of crack cocaine to Lawrence County, will be tried on the Class C felony charges in Kentucky. Charges in Ironton could still be pending in the ongoing investigation, Bowman added.

The joint effort between the county’s drug taskforce, which includes officers and officials from Ironton, the Lawrence County courts, Coal Grove and South Point, is a welcome event – and good news for city residents, Ironton Mayor Bob Cleary said.

"There are so many times we receive calls from people asking for help in eradicating the drug problem in the city," Cleary said. "This arrest, and the many other successful drug raids the city police force and the taskforce have participated in during the past years, (prove) that we are taking this problem extremely seriously. But it does take time, a lot of manpower and investigative hours, to make the arrests that count."

Getting a large supplier behind bars is definitely a step in the right direction, Cleary added.

"This is a positive step, but we cannot let up," he said. "The city will keep fighting the drug problems in Ironton as part of the continuing effort to both eliminate the dangers of drugs from our community and to reclaim our streets for ourselves, but more importantly, for our children."

Police department officials said the arrest was made possible through the culmination of efforts from the taskforce and with the cooperation of the APD.