FBI Announces 35 Narcotics and Firearms Charges in West Virginia After Year-Long Operation

The FBI announced Tuesday that 35 people in West Virginia face narcotics and firearms charges following a yearlong investigation called Operation Turf War. FBI Pittsburgh and FBI Baltimore launched the operation in early 2025 with the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force. Agents seized illegal firearms, narcotics and proceeds allegedly tied to violent crime, the bureau said.

“Operation Turf War was this FBI answering the call of a community that needed it the most,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ” He cited coordination with the Martinsburg Police Department SWAT team, Jefferson County SWAT and Homeland Security Investigations SWAT. 0, a renewed version of an initiative led last year by then-Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.

The new phase will run through Sept. 20 and expand partnerships with state and local agencies to target violent crime. “For the next 95 days, the entire country will see this FBI replicating these exact efforts across America with Operation Summer Heat — an extension of our work last year led by then-Deputy Director Dan Bongino to crush violent crime,” Patel said.

“We’re just getting started,” he added. Last year’s Operation Summer Heat produced more than 8,600 arrests, nearly 7,750 search operations, the seizure of 2,280 firearms and more than 44,560 kilograms of cocaine, according to the FBI. Officials said this year’s version will operate on a larger scale, with federal agents working alongside state and local partners to identify and disrupt violent criminals.