Two Ironton men are awaiting arraignment today in the Lawrence County Jail after a midnight drug raid led to their arrests.

Thursday, March 30, 2000

Two Ironton men are awaiting arraignment today in the Lawrence County Jail after a midnight drug raid led to their arrests.

William Mask, 36, and Brian Brown, 23, both of 303 1/2 Walnut St., Apt. 2, Ironton, were arrested early this morning when local law enforcement officials searched their home.

"At approximately 12 a.m., we executed a search warrant at the residence and arrested the two suspects," Ironton Police Department Det. Capt. Chris Bowman said. "Mask was charged with several counts of trafficking in drugs, possession of drugs and possession of criminal tools, while Brown was charged with one count of trafficking in drugs."

The investigation, which began about three months ago, is a part of the efforts of the Lawrence County Drug Task Force, comprised of the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office, the Ironton Police Department, the South Point Police Department and the Coal Grove Police Department, said Tim Sexton, chief investigator for the county prosecutor’s office.

The task force also includes support from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the federal DEA, Sexton said.

"The investigation began about three months ago when we started receiving complaints on this particular location," Sexton said. "When complaints of this nature are received, we begin doing surveillance on the area to see what kind of traffic seems to be coming and going from the location and we attempt to use undercover officers to make drug purchases from the individuals at these locations."

In this case, seven total successful drug purchases were completed by undercover officers prior to the execution of the search warrant, Sexton said.

In addition to the arrests, a search of the residence also returned a small amount of marijuana, some cash, and drug paraphernalia, as well as a 9 mm handgun, he said.

Both Mask and Brown are scheduled for arraignment today.

The continued success of the drug task force will ensure that other investigations will also be completed and will yield arrests, Sexton said.

"We’re going to continue our investigations," Sexton said. "And, we expect other arrests to be forthcoming as a result of investigations that are ongoing."