Authorities arrest several on drug charges in ‘Operation Friday the 13th’

COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - In an undercover drug operation dubbed “Operation Friday the 13th,” Cocke County and state authorities arrested nearly a dozen people for various drug charges.

On Friday, Jan. 13, the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office executed the drug operation with the help of the Newport Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, US Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The drug operation resulted in 14 counts of sale and delivery of fentanyl, 11 counts of sale and delivery of heroin, three counts of sale and delivery of cocaine, 24 counts of sale and delivery of meth and nine counts of sales and delivery of a controlled substance.

Indictments were issued for 25 individuals during the operation. As of Friday afternoon, 11 of them were in custody, according to Cocke County Sheriff CJ Ball.

Those included:

• Dalton Fox, 29
• Eric Ballard, 56
• Gary Cody, 45
• Crystal VanDaley, 43
• Joseph Todd Turner, 45
• Roger Dale Sigler, 62
• Derrick Stanley Neely, 27
• Donald Edward McCoy, 56
• Bobby Ray Lewis, 32
• Meghann Hill, 44
• Allison Hild-Daniels, 45

The remainder of the indictments were not served if the wanted individuals weren’t found during the operation or if they changed their addresses. As a result, officials said they would continue to search and locate additional defendants.

“We will continue to fight this war against dangerous drugs in our community,” Ball said. “We appreciate the work that has been put into this undercover operation.”