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New Type of Drug Found During Belmont County Bust

A Martins Ferry man arrested Thursday on drug trafficking charges allegedly was peddling a new substance for addicts to abuse.

Terry Francis, 55, of 534 N. Seventh St., Martins Ferry, was arrested at his residence by the Belmont County Drug Task Force on charges of trafficking in drugs, trafficking in marijuana, trafficking in Schedule I or II drugs, because all deals allegedly took place within 1,000 feet of a school.

Martins Ferry Police Chief John McFarland, who also is commander of the Belmont County Drug Task Force, said investigators recovered a new type of drug that has not been seen in Belmont County until now. Several vials of Delta 9 THC were found at the residence.

“This stuff is a Schedule I controlled substance. We have not seen this yet in the county,” said McFarland. “It is either smoked or ingested.”

A Schedule I drug is one that has no accepted medical use and has high potential for abuse.

McFarland said they received tips on the suspect through informants, and built their case over time.

“Some cases move quicker than others. We are constantly gathering information on other cases that we haven’t had the opportunity to act on yet. These guys are constantly working and I give them all the credit in the world for investigating these cases. They do an excellent job, and the prosecutor’s office does an excellent job. I feel like we are making progress. It’s time people get a little smarter and realize that eventually they are going to get caught,” McFarland said. “I can promise them that.”

McFarland said the arrest in Martins Ferry took place about 5 a.m. Thursday. He said the ongoing investigation also uncovered enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for another residence, at Two West St. in Bridgeport.

“We did that search warrant this morning. Our target was not at the residence at the time of the search, but we did gather evidence there of drug trafficking and found a small amount of cocaine,” McFarland said.

He said the Bridgeport suspect will be charged with trafficking in drugs, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

McFarland is hopeful the arrest of Francis will lead to more arrests through obtaining search warrants of cell phone data and records.

“We go through all that data, all the messages and photos, and it will lead us to others who are involved in drug trafficking. You’ve got good people living in these neighborhoods and they see these cars going in and out, in and out. It makes them uneasy and not feeling very safe,” he added.

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