Vermont police say 33 people were taken into custody in the Springfield and Ludlow area as part of the latest in a continuing series of counter drug operations in the state.
Most of the people arrested Wednesday were charged with heroin and cocaine crimes.
Police at a Springfield news conference in Springfield said the arrests were a first step in the process of ridding the community of illegal drugs.
Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn says the problem of opiate addiction in Vermont can't be addressed by "arresting our way out of it." He says it's up to the community to continue the fight against drugs with treatment programs for addicts and education programs to keep people from using the drugs.
There was a similar sweep recently in Bennington.
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