Maj. David Birk said the awards are based on nominations from supervisors and co-workers, and that Wagers’ work stood out. Birk said Wagers’ traffic stops, drug arrests and “good police work” assisted in a yearlong investigation into a large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering operation that stretched from Middletown throughout Ohio and extended as far as the West Coast.
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During the entire investigation, large quantities of drugs, money and weapons were seized.
As a result of the federal investigation and seizures, a federal grand jury has charged 12 individuals in a narcotics and money laundering conspiracy in a superseding indictment unsealed in Cincinnati in March 2018. Members of the group allegedly distributed fentanyl from Mexico in Middletown and sent proceeds back to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in Mexico.
The superseding indictment said that the Ohio drug trafficking organization primarily conducted fentanyl sales in Middletown and received the narcotics from Mexico. The drugs would initially enter the United States at locations in California and Arizona, where “drug mules” would then retrieve the drugs for transport to southern Ohio.
Nikki Kirsch, a dispatcher since 2002, was named Dispatcher of the Year. Birk said Kirsch was “instrumental” in the department’s communications department converting its computer system.
Garrett Downing, who has worked in the jail for three years, was named Corrections Officer of the Year.
The John D. Webster Reserve Officer of the Year went to Connor Engleka, who joined Middletown in October 2018.
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The annual ceremony and awards dinner is such “a big part of our culture here,” said Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw. “It makes us all proud to honor the officers who did this work before us and those who are doing such a great job now. The officers seem to really enjoy it, as well as the retirees coming back for it.”
Prior to the banquet at the Eagles Lodge, a memorial service was held at Woodside Cemetery.
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