A Carbon County detective who has been instrumental in working as the liaison in a number of drug investigations is leaving.

On Thursday, the county commissioners approved the resignation of Jeffrey P. Aster, effective June 24. Aster has worked as a full-time county detective in the district attorney’s office, specifically on drug cases and investigations, since Jan. 1 and before that as a part-time county detective for over a year.Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that Aster is leaving to take a job in the private sector.The commissioners thanked Aster for the work he did in the fight against the growing drug epidemic in the county.“He played a major role,” Commissioner William O’Gurek said, adding that both former District Attorney Gary Dobias and current District Attorney Jean Engler pressed upon the commissioners just how valuable Aster was to the county.“We want to thank him for his service and wish him well in the future,” O’Gurek said.“It’s a very important position,” Nothstein said, adding that Aster helped coordinate between police departments investigating drug cases in their municipalities, as well as the district attorney’s office and assisted the Carbon County Drug Task Force and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on drug investigations.Engler, who worked with Aster since the 1990s when he was an agent in the Attorney General’s office and she was an assistant district attorney, said that this is “an extreme loss for the county.”“His work has always stood for excellence,” she said, no matter if it was as a state agent or as the detective for the district attorney’s office.Aster was earmarked for the position and came with an impressive background in the area of drug investigations.His primary duty was to act as the point person between police, the district attorney’s office and the state in drug cases, such as Operation 93 Pipeline, which busted 11 people in a $1.5 million heroin pipeline between Luzerne and Carbon counties.’He also assisted the district attorney’s office in filing forfeiture petitions against those who have been convicted to seize assets and build county resources for use in fighting crime.Engler said that during his time in Carbon, Aster always promoted cooperation between agencies.Moving forward, Engler said that she will be looking to fill the vacancy.“It will be difficult to find someone with Jeff’s credentials and unique experiences in law enforcement,” she said.