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The Dutchess County Drug Task Force initiated "Operation Silent Night" in early October in an attempt to aggressively investigate and arrest drug dealers before the holidays.
According to Det. Sgt. Adam Harris of the task force, the sole purpose of the operation was to disrupt the flow of narcotics in Dutchess County by holding street-level dealers accountable.
During the operation, agents went to work identifying dealers peddling narcotics in the town of LaGrange, the town of Hyde Park, the town of Poughkeepsie, and the city of Poughkeepsie.
Seven suspects were identified and agents made more than 20 narcotics purchases from these targets who were operating independently in Dutchess County, Harris said.
During the operation, a loaded illegal handgun, fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, proceeds from the sales of narcotics, and packaging and distribution materials were seized.
On Tuesday, Nov. 28 through Thursday, Dec. 7, agents began charging the dealers with the last arrest made on Dec. 7, Harris said.
Arrested included:
- Ricard West, age 32. Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail.
- Tahiem Patterson, age 25. Charged with criminal sale of a controlled and criminal possession of a weapon. Patterson was remanded to Dutchess County Jail $50,000/$150,000/$300,000 bail.
- John Smith, age 41. Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance. Smith was released to the supervision of Dutchess County Probation.
- James Morgan, age 27. Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance. Morgan was released to reappear at a later date.
- Anne Adams, age 34. Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance. She was remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail.
- Spencer Green, age 46. Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance. Green was remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail.
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