CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Update: New data released shows the amount of drug and narcotic related arrests made in Aransas Pass over the last three years.
Those numbers show that there were 62 arrests in 2022. That number then went up to 80 in 2023.
Nine months into 2024 and 53 arrests have been made so far.
The report also shows that methamphetamines was the number one drug of choice.
Below is the story before updates.
More than three dozen law-enforcement officers were on the clock early Thursday morning in an effort to stop street-level drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and other drugs, from farther spreading throughout San Patricio County and Aransas Pass.
Operation "Rolling Stones" -- the name a reference to crack cocaine -- began with warrants in-hand at 6 a.m. at a house on 10th Street, and aimed to find 29 suspected drug dealers operating in the area.
The Aransas Pass Police Department officers and San Patricio County deputies found the first suspect they were looking for.
They also arrested a couple living in the home that told 3NEWS they were just there temporarily until they could find a home of their own, and had no idea drugs were in the house.
A neighbor watching the raid said they were surprised by the activity.
"I didn't know anything like that was going on," they said. "I mean, I know he had a lot of people coming over, but other than that I had no idea. I'm happy to know that they're cleaning up the neighborhood," they said. "I'm very shocked to know that it was happening right next to my house, though."
San Patricio County Sherriff Oscar Rivera said the effects of the drug trade in the county ripples beyond individual homes.
"We're dealing with street-level buys across this county and it's impacting us quite heavily when it started infiltrating into the school districts," he said. "It’s become a big problem, and we start seeing younger generations come into our jails and we have a jail full of people that all have a history of drugs."
Another home on the south end of town had officers pounding on the front door.
Eventually, the suspect opened the door and gave himself up.
Aransas Pass Police Chief Eric Blanchard said operations such as "Rolling Stones" are crucial in order to keep his city and others safe. He said that if a drug crime that originates in his jurisdiction is big enough to warrant federal charges, he also has the infrastructure in place to make that happen.
"These are what's directly impacting our community," he said. "We will go anywhere the drugs originate and are coming from now. If it rises to that federal level, l've got officers assigned to the DEA that work directly in there."
Thursday's raid suspects were rounded up they were taken back to the police station to be processed and then taken to the San Patricio Jail.