An Elizabethton police officer received national recognition on Wednesday for his work in a multi-state investigation into drugs, weapons, and human trafficking.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions presented the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement to Elizabethton Police Department Capt. Patrick White and several other law enforcement officers and Department of Justice employees during a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

White was one of eight individuals from the Eastern District of Tennessee honored for their work in a multi-state investigation that spanned five years.

“It was back when he was assigned to the Drug Task Force,” Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw said of White’s role in the investigation. “It was an investigation that was very far-reaching. All of those folks did a very good job.”

From 2009 through 2014, officers and agents from multiple law enforcement agencies conducted an investigation into a criminal organization participating in multiple types of crime throughout the region. As a result of the extensive investigation, 55 individuals associated with the organization were indicted and convicted in federal court of offenses associated with drug trafficking, firearms, human trafficking, and immigration.

According to information from the Department of Justice, the organization and its associates were officially linked to drug suppliers from Tennessee, North Carolina, California, Oklahoma, Arizona, and ultimately a major drug organization in Mexico. The human trafficking portion of the organization was operating in states such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio, and Georgia.

“The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement was presented to a group of law enforcement professionals from the Eastern District of Tennessee for their extraordinary teamwork in a successful investigation and prosecution of a violent drug dealing and human trafficking organization,” the DOJ said in a released statement.

In addition to White, the following individuals received the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Allen P. Pack Jr.

• FBI Special Agent Gregory J. Smith

• FBI Special Agent Steven T. Fogarty

• Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Ted S. Francisco

• Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Michelle L. Evans

• Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Carl Richard Walker Jr.

• Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Sollie W. Rabun III

Sessions also honored the trial team associated with these successful prosecutions which included Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Wayne Taylor Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorney Jelen C.T. Smith, Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Lampe, and assisted by Paralegal Specialist Cynthia St. John.

U.S. Attorney Nancy Stallard Harr, who serves the Eastern District of Tennessee, praised the officers and prosecution team for their success in eliminating the violent drug and human trafficking organization.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is extremely proud of these dedicated, hard-working individuals,” Harr said. “Their endeavor to eradicate a serious threat to the American public unquestionably improved the safety and well-being of law-abiding citizens in the region.”

“Their success is due to the outstanding communication, commitment, and perseverance by the multiple federal, state, and local agencies and the prosecution team in our office,” Harr added.