United States Drug Enforcement Administration

KNOXVILLE, Tn. – The Drug Enforcement Administration, working with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, arrested 70 individuals on a wide range of criminal charges related to drug trafficking following a two-month long targeted enforcement operation carried out across Eastern Tennessee, dubbed Operation Knoxville Thunder. In addition to the large number of arrests, law enforcement personnel seized over 90 kilograms of dangerous drugs, including fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as 33 firearms.

The sweeping law enforcement operation zeroed in on individuals and organizations most responsible for overdose deaths and drug-related violence in the region and was led by DEA’s Knoxville District Office.  It was launched in response to a spate of drug overdoses in the greater Knoxville, TN area and focused on leads generated from investigations related to fentanyl and other dangerous opioids.  Over the course of the surge, Knox County saw a 24 percent decrease in overdose deaths.

“Operation Knoxville Thunder shows what happens when law enforcement at all levels work together to save lives and attack a common enemy; we arrested dozens of offenders and took a significant amount of dangerous drugs and weapons off the street,” said Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott, head of DEA’s Louisville Field Division. “I’m very proud of the work by DEA and all of our partners to make Knoxville a safer city.”

“The great success of DEA’s Operation Knoxville Thunder demonstrates what an outstanding partner DEA is in our fight to keep dangerous drugs off our streets and to eliminate the transnational criminal organizations that traffic them,” said United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee. “I am very proud that the United States Attorney’s Office was able to collaborate with DEA and all of Operation Knoxville Thunder’s federal, state, and local partners to carry out its critical mission of keeping our communities safe.”

DEA partnered with the Knoxville Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, HSI, ATF, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Blount County Sheriff’s Office, Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, Alcoa Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Knox County District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee to carry out Operation Knoxville Thunder.

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