A search warrant executed at a rural Hocking County home turned up 44 firearms and suspected fentanyl, but the man deputies were looking for was nowhere to be found. The Hocking County Special Response Team was activated to help serve the warrant at 20953 Sanner Road, and investigators say the search remains ongoing as they try to track down 40-year-old Dustin D. Meadows.
According to WSYX3, deputies located the 44 firearms along with suspected fentanyl, other narcotics, and evidence believed to be tied to drug trafficking during the search. Meadows, identified as a resident of the home, has an active felony warrant for his arrest, the station reports. The Athens County Task Force responded to assist the Hocking County SRT and detectives during the operation, underscoring the multi-agency nature of the response near the county line.
The Sanner Road property sits in a rural stretch of Hocking County near the Nelsonville mailing zone, close to the Athens County border, on a six-bedroom home spread across a multi-acre parcel, per Redfin. That proximity to the county line helps explain why outside task force officers were called in to help Hocking County's own tactical unit.
A Familiar Address for the Sheriff's Office
This is not the first time law enforcement has converged on the Sanner Road residence. In December 2024, the Hocking County SRT surrounded the same home to arrest a suspect wanted for a violent assault, and Meadows — then 39 — was encountered inside with his own active warrant at the time, according to the Hocking County Sheriff's Office. He was released on a recognizance bond because of a medical condition — he was reportedly paralyzed — but later failed to appear in municipal court, leaving the earlier warrant unresolved before Friday's raid.
Sheriff Lanny E. North, who has led the office since winning election in 2000 and is now the longest-serving sheriff in Hocking County history, asked anyone with information on Meadows' whereabouts to contact the sheriff's office and 911 dispatch center. Under North, the department has grown from fewer than 20 employees to nearly 60 staff members, according to the Scioto Post. Residents can reach the sheriff's office and 911 dispatch center at 740-385-2131, or submit anonymous tips by calling or texting the department's tip line at 740-380-HCSO (4276).
Part of a Broader Enforcement Push
The Sanner Road warrant came just days after Hocking County deputies executed another search warrant on Hock-Hocking Road on August 7, looking for a different wanted individual and uncovering suspected fentanyl, drug-trafficking evidence, and stolen property, the sheriff's office says. Together, the two operations point to an active push by county deputies this month to track down wanted suspects and disrupt drug operations across the rural county.
If the 44 firearms are ultimately tied to drug trafficking charges, Meadows could face steep sentencing consequences. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2941.141, possessing or controlling a firearm during a felony drug trafficking offense carries a mandatory one-year prison specification that must be served consecutively to any sentence on the underlying charge, according to the Ohio General Assembly. It remains unclear whether the seized firearms were legally owned or reported stolen, and the exact quantity of fentanyl recovered has not been laboratory-verified.
Fentanyl's Toll Across Ohio
The presence of suspected fentanyl in the raid fits a grim statewide pattern. Fentanyl or its analogs were involved in 69% of Ohio's 2,931 unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2024, keeping synthetic opioids the leading driver of fatal overdoses statewide, per the Ohio Department of Health. The Ohio Attorney General's Office has also reported that fentanyl was the second-most frequently identified illegal substance in drug evidence tested by the state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation lab in early 2024, trailing only methamphetamine.
Suspects arrested on felony warrants or drug trafficking charges out of Hocking County are typically booked at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in Nelsonville, which serves Hocking, Athens, Morgan, and Vinton counties. Meanwhile, the Hocking County Health Department continues to distribute free Narcan kits and overdose response training to residents through Ohio's Project DAWN network, a public health effort running alongside the criminal investigation.
For now, the investigation into the Sanner Road search remains ongoing, and Meadows' current whereabouts are unknown. The case echoes past regional drug enforcement troubles tied to Hocking County, as the sheriff's office continues to lean on neighboring task forces to confront trafficking activity along the county line.
