BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Two Martin County men allegedly contributed to the overall pill count in the Kentucky State Police’s Operation Summer Heat—a drug roundup from Paducah to Pikeville last week that involved all 16 KSP posts.
Authorities reported 490 criminal charges among 206 initial arrests in the sting, which resulted in the seizure of significant quantities of illegal substances.
Police confiscated 554 grams of fentanyl, 219 grams of cocaine, 4,862 grams of methamphetamine, 41 grams of heroin, 40 grams of spice, 2,931 fentanyl pills, 50 hydrocodone pills, 64 oxycodone pills, 90 hallucinogens, and 14 firearms. The street value of the seized drugs is estimated at approximately $684,953. Additionally, police recovered $37,159 in cash, $10,000 in stolen tools, and one stolen vehicle.
The KSP arrested Inez residents Edward Lynn Moore, 65, and Garland C. Spence, 62, on July 10 with the assistance of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. Both men had been indicted by a Martin County grand jury on June 6 on multiple drug-related charges, though the indictments were sealed until their arrest.
Moore was taken into custody around 12:40 p.m. on Blacklog Road in Inez. He faces four separate indictments for first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (less than 10 dosage units). Moore’s indictments specify the following:
- Trafficking seven units of oxycodone Aug. 30, 2023
- Trafficking eight units of oxycodone Sept. 12, 2023
- Trafficking seven units of oxycodone Aug. 31, 2023
- Trafficking seven units of oxycodone Aug. 24, 2023
Spence was apprehended at 12:10 p.m. on Court Street in Inez. He faces five separate indictments charging him with five counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (over 10 dosage units) and one count of trafficking in a controlled substance (10 dosage units). Spence’s indictments detail the following:
- Trafficking 25 units of hydrocodone July 18, 2023
- Trafficking 20 units of hydrocodone Aug. 17, 2023
- Trafficking 15 units of oxycodone and 10 units of hydrocodone July 14, 2023
- Trafficking 10 units of hydrocodone July 6, 2023
- Trafficking 20 units of hydrocodone Aug. 21, 2023
Each indictment sets a separate $10,000 bail for Moore and Spence.
Operation Summer Heat followed a three-month investigation into suspected drug trafficking rings.
KSP Post 9 in Pikeville reported the highest number of initial arrests at 37.
Arrests by other state police posts were as follows:
Post 1, Mayfield: 9
Post 2, Madisonville: 20
Post 3, Bowling Green: 6
Post 4, Elizabethtown: 22
Post 5, Campbellsburg: 1
Post 6, Dry Ridge: 8
Post 7, Richmond: 7
Post 8, Morehead: 12
Post 10, Harlan: 3
Post 11, London: 9
Post 12, Frankfort: 1
Post 13, Hazard: 18
Post 14, Ashland: 9
Post 15, Columbia: 36
Post 16, Henderson: 8