On July 11th, 2023 at 4:00 PM the Guernsey County Sheriff’s office conducted a search warrant on a residence located in the 500 block of Gomber Ave, Cambridge. The residence had come under investigation from fielding complaints from the concerned citizens of Guernsey County. Subsequent follow up investigations were conducted, verifying that illegal narcotics activity had been occurring at the residence.
The Guernsey County Sheriff’s Special Response Team was activated due to the risk of the known individuals in the residence having a violent criminal history. The Special Response Team had apprehended 12 individuals inside of the residence, several of which had active warrants for their arrest.
Investigators with the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement task force and Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office executed the search of the residence finding drug paraphernalia, user-level amounts of narcotics, and small amounts of cash. The residence was found to be in deplorable conditions, which were reported to the Guernsey County Health Department. The owner of the residence risks forfeiture over the residence for being involved in illegal narcotics activity, being in a nearly unlivable condition, and for housing numerous individuals involved in criminal activity. The forfeiture of this residence will be explored throughout the on-going investigation.
The investigation is still pending at this time and while 12 individuals were arrested, not everyone of interest had been apprehended.
Sheriff Paden would like to say that individuals responsible for bringing narcotics into our community and housing individuals involved in illegal activity will not be tolerated. Homeowners that continue to allow these activities and harbor criminals will lose their residence, something that occurred as recent as last year, 2022, as sentenced in the Guernsey County Common Pleas Court.
