The FBI on Tuesday said 35 people had been charged for narcotics and firearms offenses stemming from a yearlong federal operation in West Virginia while also unveiling a new nationwide summer crime-fighting initiative.
According to the government, FBI Pittsburgh and FBI Baltimore, in collaboration with the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, initiated Operation Turf War in early 2025.
The FBI reported that the operation resulted in the recovery of illicit firearms and narcotics, as well as the forfeiture of money allegedly used to fund violent criminal activity. According to FBI Director Kash Patel, Operation Turf War was an effort to assist a community in need. “This was a massively successful operation right in West Virginia, with nearly three dozen people arrested using sophisticated techniques, confidential informants, and precise collaboration across the entire FBI enterprise with our partners,” he said.
Patel said the operation demonstrated “exactly what partnerships are supposed to look like.”
He emphasized the teamwork between the Martinsburg Police Department SWAT unit, Jefferson County SWAT, and Homeland Security Investigations SWAT.
The FBI also announced the launch of Operation Summer Heat 2.0, a renewed version of an initiative led last year by then-Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino that the bureau said resulted in nearly 9,000 arrests nationwide.
The alliance with state and local law enforcement organizations aims to reduce violent crime and will last until September 20. “For the next 95 days, the FBI will replicate these 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 stated. “We’re just getting started,” he explained.
According to the FBI, last year’s Operation Summer Heat resulted in more than 8,600 arrests, over 7,750 search warrants, the seizure of 2,280 weapons, and the confiscation of over 44,560 kilograms of cocaine.
The bureau said this year’s operation will be conducted on a larger scale, with federal officials working alongside state and local partners to identify and disrupt violent criminals.
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