by Sequim Gazette Staff

Hours after an arrest warrant was issued by Clallam County Superior Court, suspected heroin dealer Todd J. Dodge, 40, formerly of Port Angeles, was arrested in Centralia and booked into the Lewis County jail.

Narcotics Team Supervisor Jason Viada said the warrant was issued the afternoon of March 12 and Dodge was arrested at about 1 a.m. March 13.

The Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office worked swiftly at the request of the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team to issue the warrant for the arrest of Dodge after OPNET received information about Dodge’s whereabouts, he said.

The arrest warrant was a result of an OPNET investigation that occurred in October 2011, during which Dodge allegedly sold heroin to OPNET in Port Angeles, Viada said. The Dodge investigation in the fall was similar to several other heroin investigations that occurred in the summer and fall of 2011, which are now in different stages, he said.

“There are people on the Olympic Peninsula that have sold illegal narcotics to OPNET and just don’t know it yet,” he said. “OPNET will notify those suspects of what they have done shortly after their arrests.”

Dodge was selected by OPNET in part because of his extensive criminal history, which includes at least 19 convictions, 11 of which are felonies, Viada said.