A three-month collaborative investigation by the Roane County Sheriff’s Office and the Harriman and Kingston police departments resulted in the execution of two search warrants at the Hillside Apartments on Midtown Lane in Harriman.

A Detroit, Michigan-based drug-trafficking organization has been sending dealers to the apartments on a rotating basis, with varying quantities of 40mg Opana oxymorphone pills. Oxymorphone is a Schedule II controlled substance.

Every few weeks, a new set of dealers would get rotated in to the apartments, with the previous lot getting sent back to Detroit.

As many as 40 customers per day have been observed frequenting the apartments to purchase the pills, which have a local street value of $100 apiece. It’s estimated the dealers were taking in as much as $3,000 per day.

The search warrants were executed on apartments 1 and 2, both of which are controlled by the Detroit-based dealers. Apartment 1 was used to sell the pills; it’s believed Apartment 2 was used as a “stash” site for drugs, money and other items.

During the bust, 38-year-old Dontae Martez Register and 40-year-old Julius Randy Jackson, both of Detroit, were charged with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to sell and possession of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony. Register, who has felony convictions in Michigan, was additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun.

The search netted three loaded handguns, 31 Opana pills and approximately $10,000 in cash.

During the searches, customers came to the apartments attempting to buy drugs from law-enforcement officers; they were charged with misdemeanor charges. All subjects were transported to the Roane County Sheriff’s Office.

The FBI Rocky Top Task Force – made up of officers from the Knoxville and Kingston police departments and the Loudon, Blount and Roane County sheriff’s offices – as well as agents and officers of the TBI, 9^th Drug Task Force and Rockwood Police Department, assisted in the operation.