PRESTONSBURG – Operation UNITE held a symposium at the Mountain Arts Center on August 1, celebrating 20 years of service to combat the drug epidemic in Eastern Kentucky, as well as honoring several community partners.
Congressman Hal Rogers’ Field Representative Andrea Begley said that when Rogers started the organization, he knew education starting in the school and community level would be what would be the backbone of the long-term success of the fight.
In 2019 studies were conducted, showing that 14 of the 20 counties in the country with the greatest reduction in overdose deaths came from Eastern Kentucky, citing Operation UNITE, Drug Corps, expansion of treatment options and community programs as the reason for the improvement.
Abbie Conley, representing the Magoffin County Health Department’s Teen Coalition, was honored on stage at the event, presented with the Teamwork Award.
Also presented on Tuesday was the first-ever Making It Safe Award, presented to Magoffin County Sheriff Bill Meade for his number of drug investigations that have led to hundreds of pounds of meth and other drugs being taken off the streets in Johnson and Magoffin counties, presented by Scott Bailey, the UNITE manager in their law enforcement division.
“Bill started his career with the Kentucky State Police, and after retirement he went to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, where he started as a detective, and that’s where mine and his relationship began,” Bailey said. “We’ve been working together for about 6 years. Bill’s a great investigator, a great law enforcement person. He cares about the public and he’s given his life for it. He makes cases that’s very prosecutable and adopted by Operation UNITE and DEA detectives, he’s sent several cases to us that have been prosecuted federally. He was elected as sheriff this past election for Magoffin County, in which our relationship has continued and is flourishing still as we work the Magoffin area. We’ve worked several cases there and I want to thank Bill for all the work he does and will continue to do. I commend you for being the first recipient of the first-annual Making it Safe Award.”
Meade spoke with Mortimer Media Group after the ceremony, discussing that the ongoing investigations will be coming to a head very soon.
“I’m honored to have received the award today from Operation UNITE,” Sheriff Meade said. “We’ve been able to build a strong relationship with Operation UNITE and the DEA out of London over the last 12 years. Whenever I ran for sheriff, I told everyone I was going to bring that cooperation and that same work ethic here to Magoffin County to achieve a lot of what we were able to achieve in Johnson County. I can assure you we are working diligently right now with the drug issues that we have here. We will be knocking on doors in the near future. We have worked tirelessly, and we will continue to do so. I ask for your patience and give me just a little bit of time and you will see the fruits of our labors in the near future.”
