Rock Hill man charged with trafficking more than 2,000 fentanyl pills near I-77 in SC
A Rock Hill man faces charges under a new South Carolina drug trafficking law after York County agents working with Charlotte police seized 276 grams of fentanyl.
David Lee Stevenson Jr., 33, is in the York County jail without bail on a fentanyl trafficking charge after more than 9 ounces of the drugs were found Late Tuesday off Mount Holly Road near Interstate 77, records show.
York County drug agents were working a joint investigation with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department when the seizure and arrest occurred, said B.J. Kennedy, commander of the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit.
There were more than 2,000 pills seized, Kennedy said. The incident report said the pills were fraudulently manufactured.
Fentanyl law in SC
The law that took effect in June makes any conviction for trafficking more than 4 grams of fentanyl illegal, and enacted heavier penalties for convictions.
The law specific to fentanyl trafficking was pushed by York County community leaders and South Carolina officials after overdose deaths linked to fentanyl skyrocketed in the past few years.
After a record seizure of more than 60 pounds of fentanyl near Lake Wylie in October 2022, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and Sen. Lindsay Graham, both South Carolina Republicans, held a news conference in York with area officials to push for the stricter fentanyl laws.
South Carolina lawmakers passed the new law soon afterward in early 2023.
For amounts of fentanyl over 28 grams, or an ounce, a conviction now carries a mandatory 25 years in prison, South Carolina law shows.
The new trafficking law only affects arrests made after June 2023 when the law took effect.
Fentanyl danger and availability
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA says fentanyI is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive and lethal.
Law enforcement and public officials in York County and Charlotte have said fentanyl is easily obtained from street dealers, The Herald and Charlotte Observer have reported.
