***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 03, 2024

ELKHART COUNTY ICE UNIT SEIZES LARGE QUANTITIES OF GUNS AND DRUGS IN 2023

Media Contact: Vicki Elaine Becker (574) 296-1888

On December 13, 2023, the multi-agency Elkhart County Intelligence and Covert Enforcement (ICE) Unit conducted a search warrant on a residence on County Road 117 in Elkhart County after working in collaboration with the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (KANET) from Kent County, Michigan. KANET officers were conducting a separate investigation into a person who was illegally dealing psilocybin mushrooms in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but their evidence also pointed in the direction of one Mason Bails of 57745 County Road 117 in Goshen. The evidence suggested that Bails had a large-scale suspected psilocybin mushroom grow operation in his residence in Elkhart County.

This is the second large-scale suspected psilocybin mushroom grow operation the ICE Unit has dismantled in Elkhart County this year. In addition to this investigation, the multi-agency ICE Unit has seized over nineteen (19) kilos of methamphetamine, over twenty-eight (28) kilos of cocaine, over five hundred (500) grams of fentanyl powder, more than one thousand seven hundred and fifty (1,750) grams of fraudulent pills laced with fentanyl, one hundred and four (104) pounds of marijuana, and eighty-five (85) illegal firearms from other criminal offenders in Elkhart County during 2023. The approximate street value of these drugs exceeds $1,000,000. Twenty-two (22) different offenders were charged with various offenses as a result of ICE investigations in 2023.

Drug-involved offenders continue to be responsible for a significant majority of violent crimes in Elkhart County, and almost all juveniles prosecuted and sentenced in adult court for serious crimes in 2023 have admitted use of marijuana as a factor in their lives

The abuse of drugs can profoundly affect rational decision-making, the results of which we see in the criminal justice system every day. Until offenders recognize that the use of drugs exacerbates any anti-social attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors they may already be battling, and accept that the consequences are not worth the risks, we will continue to suffer negative outcomes. The number of neglected children and family responsibilities continues to grow in our community as more people buy into the mainstream messaging that drug crimes are victimless crimes. The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney will continue to stand firm in seeking accountability from these offenders and forcing therapeutic interventions, and removal when necessary, to protect our community from this corruption.

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“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”