Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 23, 2024
Zanesville Drug Bust Nets $1 Million in Illegal Drugs, Firearms
Members of the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement (CODE) Task Force and Zanesville-Muskingum County Joint Drug Unit filed criminal charges against two Zanesville residents accused of trafficking up to $1 million in illegal drugs.
Codey Starkey age 39, and Chiquita Rush, age 36, both of Zanesville were arrested by officers from the CODE Task Force, the Zanesville-Muskingum County Joint Drug Unit, the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, and the Zanesville Police Department.
Rush and Starkey face major drug offender charges for trafficking in fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, as well as lesser charges, including trafficking marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. All charges carry firearm specifications, due to multiple firearms being found throughout the residence.
Both individuals are also charged with having weapons under disability, resulting from prior drug convictions prohibiting the possession of firearms. Starkey is also charged with tampering with evidence, as he attempted to flush drugs down the residence’s toilet.
The Zanesville-Muskingum County Joint Drug Unit operates both detectives and uniformed patrol sections, and the CODE Task Force operates a bulk trafficking units with patrol officers. The uniformed patrol officers from both units were essential in discovering this drug operation and executing the search warrants.
Drugs seized during the raid includes almost one kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of fentanyl, more than a quarter of a kilogram of cocaine, one pound of methamphetamines, and one pound of marijuana. The street value of just the fentanyl is more than $170,000. The total value of contraband seized is estimated to be between $700,000 and $1 million.
Detectives also seized numerous vehicles and additional personal property, which will be forfeited from Starkey and Rush, as those items were the proceeds of illegal narcotics trafficking.
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