DANVILLE — Following an early Wednesday morning of flash bangs, federal officers, and arrests in Danville, the Springfield FBI office released a statement on Thursday.
Jake Griffin, Special Agent Public Affairs for the Springfield FBI office, wrote in a release that, “multiple individuals were arrested on federal charges related to drug distribution in the central Illinois region.” The raids began in the Danville area around 6 a.m. Multiple videos surfaced of the raids on social media, including one from Tanya Fields.
The FBI Eastern Illinois TOC-West Task Force led the arrests, with support from the FBI Eastern Illinois Safe Streets Task Force. The TOC-West Task Force focuses on targeting and dismantling violent criminal organizations, while the Safe Streets Task Force concentrates on reducing violent crime, especially related to drug trafficking.
The FBI said these task forces are “composed of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers dedicated to dismantling violent criminal networks and safeguarding the communities they serve.”
They added search warrants conducted during the operation, which seized drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, as well as firearms, including rifles, and U.S. currency.
The department did not list names of those arrested, but did say those arrested were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
Agencies assisting in the investigation and arrests include the Drug Enforcement Administration, Danville Police Department, Vermillion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Illinois State Police.
This operation was supported, in part, by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.
Griffin added that they cannot release any more information at this time.
“You may have questions such as ‘who was arrested’ and ‘what are the specific charges,’ and that information will come, just not this week,” Griffin said. “Before this information can be released, things such as indictments or search warrants need to be unsealed, and that is a process that takes a little bit. Once everything is squared away, the United States Attorney’s Office will send you all a press release with that information.”