West Virginia Gov. Justice hits at Vice President Harris in briefing

“I am proud to announce the success of this operation,” Justice said. “We all know of the terrible consequences we’ve all suffered (from the drug crisis), and many in a significantly worse way…But we can’t just focus on treatment. We surely need treatment without any question, but we need to do something too about drugs that are flowing across our state borders into West Virginia.”

According to Justice, law enforcement officers seized 22 pounds of methamphetamine, half a pound of fentanyl along with fentanyl pills, heroin, cocaine, and other illicit drugs. There were 70 felony arrests and 176 misdemeanor arrests. More than 30 firearms were seized, including 15 handguns and 14 rifles. More than $31,000 in drug money was seized.

Rob Cunningham, the acting cabinet secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said this was the second operation initiated by the department since last year, calling the operation “overwhelmingly successful.” Other partners in the operation included the West Virginia National Guard and the West Virginia Fusion Center.

“With everyone working together, we were really able to put a dent in this fight against illegal drugs,” Cunningham said. “This was a very sizable seizure of 20-plus pounds of methamphetamine in this initiative. I want to thank all of the police officers and the leadership that had them participate. You really made a difference in what we are able to do to protect the people of West Virginia.”

“We put the information out, and the overwhelming response from our state’s law enforcement was an immediate answer to the call to participate in this,” said Jack Luikart, director of the West Virginia Fusion Center, which works to identify possible criminal activities and provide intelligence to state and local law enforcement. “Seizures of the drugs were up significantly from years prior…West Virginia is not a source state, so that fentanyl was transported here at one time. These efforts on a day-to-day basis do make a difference.”

Justice placed the blame on the continued trafficking of fentanyl into the state on lax enforcement of immigration along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, with fentanyl components coming from China and into Mexico through cartels. Justice placed the blame on President Joe Biden and Harris, whom Biden had put in charge of southern border security strategy in 2021.

“The number is staggering how many millions of people have come across our southern border,” Justice said. “We know without question some percentage of them are coming across with some bad stuff, and it may be more bad than just this terrible drug epidemic. It can’t get much worse than this in my book, but yes it can.”

Justice, who switched parties from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in 2017 at Trump’s urging and with Trump by his side, is a Trump family friend. Justice — along with his English bulldog Babydog — has hit the campaign trail on behalf of Trump, attending an event last week in Pennsylvania. Justice and Babydog are traveling to North Carolina today for another pro-Trump event.

Both national polling and polling from battleground states have both Trump and Harris at a statistical tie, though it is expected that Trump will easily win West Virginia’s four electoral votes by a wide margin when polls close on Nov. 5.

“I know we’re going to do the right thing in West Virginia, but I am telling you this election is too close. That’s all there is to it,” Justice said. “I can’t make any sense at all out of what Kamala Harris is trying to say. I have really tried. But for the most part when she speaks, she’s speaking in a thought loop…and what she says I can’t get at all.

“The thing I can’t believe is what is wrong with America? Can you not understand absolutely? Do you really want this lady to end up absolute president of our entire country? What in the world,” Justice continued. “How can this election be even remotely close? I hope and pray it’s not.”

Justice is finishing up his second and final four-year term as governor. He faces Democrat and former Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott in the general election for U.S. Senate.