Don’t overlook the significance of what police Detective John Johnson said during a recent court hearing about drug “host houses.”

Testifying during a March 12 court hearing, the veteran officer said he’s seen multiple illegal drug operations running out of host houses during his time as a member of the Butler County Drug Task Force.

It has become the template, Johnson said. The scenario typically involves local individuals taking in out-of-town drug dealers with no local ties and partnering with them to operate out of their homes.

“That’s the overwhelming majority (of) what we see in Butler County,” Johnson said of host house drug operations.

This particular case, involving 25-year-old Quendell Mauri Owens of Philadelphia, fits the template like a cookie-cutter, Johnson said.

Owens was charged in October 2018 with six drug-related counts — two felony manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; one felony criminal conspiracy engaging in manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; two misdemeanor intent to possess controlled substances and one misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Two others face identical criminal charges: Vakie Ionic Knight, 27, also of Philadelphia; and 32-year-old Mandi L. Gipson. All three were inside Gipson’s Old Plank Estates apartment in Butler Township when members of the drug task force raided it Oct. 26, 2018, confiscating thousands of dollars worth of crack cocaine, heroin, paraphernalia for drug distribution and a handgun.

According to Tim Fennell, who heads the task force, Gipson did most of the selling in the area while the two men supplied the drugs, which they brought with them from their hometown. Fennell said Philadelphia is a source of much of Butler’s illegal opiate supply.

It’s not hard confirming Johnson’s observation. Arrest records indicate clusters of three and four defendants at a time, combinations of local and out-of-town addresses, ages varying by as much as a generation or more.

This information is crucial in our community’s fight against drugs. It’s vital to know and anticipate your enemy’s tactics and habits.

It’s also good to know what weapons are at our disposal in this ongoing fight. Such weapons might include a federal law known as the Crack-House Statute.

The federal statute, codified in Chapter 21 of the Controlled Substances Act, makes it a felony to knowingly open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing or using any controlled substance. This statute authorizes the Justice Department to prosecute property owners who knowingly and intentionally allow others to use their property to hold events for the purpose of distributing or using drugs.

The Crack-House Statute has been used successfully to prosecute owners of motels, car repair shops and other businesses who knowingly and intentionally allowed their premises to be used for drug distribution, according to federal prosecutors. The statute is amended by the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003 which makes it more feasible to successfully prosecute rogue event promoters.

Last week, Butler County Judge Timothy McCune sentenced another convicted drug dealer from Philadelphia to 33 months to 11 years in state prison. Adding some salt to the wound, McCune called Thomas W. Stevenson Jr. a “poison” to the community. “Mr. Stevenson is a businessman. His business puts a lot of poison in our community and, by extent, the country,” McCune said. “As businessmen, they know the risks. This is not a situation where addicts are selling to their friends. Now, ... you’ll be one less person cops will have to worry about.”

Let’s all strive to emulate Judge McCune’s and Detective Johnson’s show of spine against drug dealers. It’s time to remove the poison from our midst. We can resolve that the only thing worse than out-of-town drug traffickers is a neighbor willing to host them in his or her home.