During the meeting of the Emery County Commissioners on Tuesday, Dec. 17, a moment of recognition was held for the Emery County Sheriff’s Office and the Emery County Drug Task Force for work they had done in halting a major drug operation that affected both Carbon and Emery County.

Sheriff Tyson Huntington explained that this process started in 2022 when officers executed a search warrant in a house in Orangeville which resulted in several arrests and the seizure of controlled substances and firearms. This bust also led to the conviction of one of the dealers, who was shipped off to the Utah State Prison. 

While at the prison, the man told his cellmate that his wife had taken over the drug business and was the biggest dealer in Emery County. This information was relayed to a prison guard who passed it along to the ECSO and the Drug Task Force, opening an investigation into the wife.

The investigation connected the task force with agencies such as Homeland Security and Utah Major Crimes. This helped them find that the woman was making several trips from California to Utah. Knowing this, ECSO was able to conduct a traffic stop on the woman in March of 2023. A K-9 indication led to a search of the vehicle, but to the dismay of the responding officer, nothing of consequence was found. However, a UPS receipt was found showing a shipment being made to East Carbon by way of California.

Going back to the drawing board, ECSO and the Drug Task Force contacted UPS and the Carbon Metro Drug Task Force to set up another bust. First, agents went to UPS and upon K-9 indication secured the package shipped by the woman. Inside were several stuffed children’s toys, which upon further inspection revealed quarter-pound packages of methamphetamine. The contents were replaced with more legal content, and shipped to the original address while a warrant for the house was secured.

When the warrant was obtained, ECSO in conjunction with the Carbon Metro Drug Task Force, Price City Police Department, Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, East Carbon Police Department and others executed the warrant and arrested several individuals, including a few wanted fugitives. “The close relationships with our other agencies on the local and state level proved to be invaluable,” spoke Huntington.

“President Theodore Roosevelt once said one of the greatest gifts in this life is to work hard at things worth working for,’ and as I think about our task force and about the hard work they do, they do things that are worth working for,” the Sheriff stated. “ They went beyond what a normal cop is expected to do. And because of that, they were able to make arrests locally in Emery County and Carbon County that directly impacted our communities. It’s not a load of dope on I-70 headed to Denver that could come back our way; It is drugs, sold out of Orangeville that these guys interrupted.”

Huntington explained that this is a full team effort, with every individual within the department playing a part in operations like these. The Sheriff also thanked the elected officials of the county,” I can’t really do any of this without our County employees and our elected officials.”

Upon the presentation of the award, the crowded Commission Chambers erupted into applause, signaling the support that the body has from the general public.