Marshall County Drug Ring Dismantled in Multi-State Bust

Eight members of a Columbus, Ohio street gang and 25 West Virginia distributors were indicted in a sweeping federal crackdown on a drug pipeline that flooded small towns across the Ohio Valley with crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. The operation, which ran from February 2017 through March 2018, funneled narcotics from Columbus into Parkersburg, Sistersville, Paden City, New Martinsville, and beyond—stretching law enforcement resources across four federal districts.

The Marshall County Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force led the charge, dismantling the entire conspiracy through relentless investigation and interagency coordination. Comprised of officers from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, West Virginia State Police, Moundsville Police Department, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the task force traced supply chains, penetrated distribution networks, and secured indictments that crippled the gang’s regional reach. The operation spanned the Northern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia, Southern District of Ohio, and even reached into the Northern District of Georgia.

Brooke County Prosecutor Joe Barki, honored at a Wheeling ceremony by U.S. Attorney Bill Powell, has spent 16 years on the front lines of the drug war in the Northern Panhandle. As president of the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug & Violent Crime Task Force Board for the past seven years, Barki has prosecuted countless cases and forged critical partnerships that amplified federal and local efforts. His tenure as Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock Counties laid the groundwork for sustained legal pressure on narcotics networks.

The YWCA of Wheeling’s WIND Program—Women Inspired in New Directions—was also recognized for its role in recovery and community outreach. The program provides a safe haven for women battling addiction and trauma, while actively supporting federal initiatives like Project Safe Neighborhoods and reentry simulations. Their collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office has proven vital in breaking cycles of crime and recidivism in the Ohio Valley.

Sgt. John Haglock of the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office, a school resource officer at Madison Elementary, embodies the human side of law enforcement. At a school where many children are removed from homes ravaged by the drug epidemic, Haglock is a constant presence of stability and compassion. In March, when three siblings were taken from their home, Haglock and his wife Stephanie—married over 30 years and parents to two grown children—immediately opened their home to all three, refusing to let another family collapse in silence.

“They are difference makers,” U.S. Attorney Bill Powell declared at the awards ceremony, honoring seven law enforcement entities and one community organization for their relentless work. “They represent the best of us.” From indictments that shattered a multi-state drug ring to foster care stepped into by a cop who wouldn’t look away, the fight for safer communities in West Virginia is being won in courtrooms, on the streets, and in homes willing to heal what the epidemic broke.

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