NEWPORT, Ky. -- A Mason man suspected to be a ringleader of a major fentanyl trafficking ring was arrested Thursday in Campbell County, police said.
Keysean Dickey, 25, was arrested at 8:52 p.m. Thursday and taken to the Campbell County Jail.
Officers seized 250 grams of fentanyl, $15,000 cash and four handguns and arrested 11 other suspects in June and announced that Dickey, Dominic Davis, Da’Marco Browner and Mykeal Parker were still at-large and suspected of participating.
This map charts where informants say they bought drugs from the trafficking ring.
The indictment alleged the group distributed more than 400 grams of fentanyl from September 2016 to June 2017. Two hundred officers were involved in an eight-month investigation that busted the multimillion-dollar operation.
Newtown Police Chief, and member of the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition Task Force, Tom Synan said arresting the source of these deadly drugs is a start in fighting the heroin epidemic.
"Anytime that you can get an interdiction, and especially when it's something like fentanyl or carfentanyl, that is significant in that not only are you getting that drug off the street, but it really translates into saving peoples lives," Synan said.
Court records show informants bought fentanyl at 15 locations, most of which were within a 3-mile stretch along the Interstate 75 corridor in northeast Cincinnati. Investigators said they believe the organization was responsible for distributing about $2 million worth of fentanyl a year.
