It was an investigation more than six months in the making.

Barbourville City police took to the streets Tuesday morning, arresting alleged drug dealers.

"It's important to the community to help the drug problem. We are slammed with prescription drug problem especially in Knox County, Barbourville area. We try to combat that with the amount of hours in a day and man power we got," said Brian Senters with Barbourville Police.

About 10 officers worked the roundup, starting around 6 AM Tuesday morning, checking homes and cars to find any signs of drugs.

Police say every arrest that takes an alleged drug dealer out of the circle is a good thing.

Officers say most crime is linked to drugs in Knox County.

They say drug roundups like these help control the problem.

If you would like to report suspicious drug activity, you can call the Barbourville police drug tip line at 5-4-6 D-R-U-G.

Officers say this hotline has already led to several arrests.

The following people were arrested:
• Harrison Smith
• Tammy Hensley
• Junior Ray Sizemore
• Earnest Allen McIntyre
• Johnny Lee Rice
• Clarence J. Smith