Over 65 pounds fentanyl found in largest-ever York County seizure
Police in South Carolina seized more than 65 pounds of fentanyl Wednesday in a drug raid that officials describe as the largest-ever seizure of illegal fentanyl opioids in York County.
York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit agents, York County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and Rock Hill Police Department officers confiscated more than 30 kilograms of pills believed to contain fentanyl, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office and B.J Kennedy, commander of the drug unit.
Six people face drug charges, according to deputies and the statement from the drug unit.
More than two kilograms of cocaine, meth and other drugs, were seized, police said. Police also confiscated several guns, officials said.
The seizure and arrests came after months of investigation into alleged drug dealing, Kennedy said.
“We believe this is the largest seizure of fentanyl ever in York County,” Kennedy said. “This was a major drug trafficking seizure and arrests.”
Fentanyl has been linked to overdoses in York County, around Charlotte, and nationwide, officials say.
The drug unit is made up of law enforcement officers from all departments in York County.
Police did not give an estimated street value of the fentanyl seized.
The drug and gun seizures
Search warrants were executed Wednesday near Lake Wylie, Rock Hill, and Clover, according to police statements.
At a home on Golden Pond Drive near Lake Wylie, officers found 30,531 grams of fentanyl, 2,869 grams of cocaine, 704 grams of meth, 454 grams of marijuana, four guns, and seven pill presses used to manufacture illegal pills, according to a written statement from the drug unit.
At a Sherwood Circle house in Rock Hill, police found a press, six guns, anabolic steroids, fentanyl, and a male enhancement drug, police said.
While searching a home on Moss Lake Drive in Clover, officers seized marijuana and more than 900 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, police said.
6 people charged
Six people are charged with crimes in connection with the seizures of drugs and guns, officials said.
Four face fentanyl charges. They are:
- Javaris L. Johnson, 35, of Clover, charged with 14 drug and weapon charges, including two counts of drug trafficking, police said.
- Quonzy L. Hope, 34, Thomas A. Perry, 29, and Timario M. Gayton, 30, all of Rock Hill, each face 10 drug and weapon charges that include two counts of drug trafficking, according to police.
Two others also face charges from the Wednesday searches.
India C. Dixon, 36, of Clover, faces five felony drug charges but none that involve fentanyl, according to police and jail records.
Jajuana L. Johnson, 32, of Clover, faces eight felony drug charges but none that involve fentanyl, police said in the statement.
Fentanyl dangers
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA says fentanyI is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive — and potentially lethal.
Fentanyl has created a new level of danger in the Charlotte region and is the most common illegal drug locally, police told the Charlotte Observer earlier this year.
In a statement in August, the DEA said fentanyl may be the most deadly drug ever in America.
“Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in a a news release statement issued Aug. 19 about the fentanyl problem nationwide.
Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs—in powder and pill form—to drive addiction and create repeat customers, the DEA said in the statement.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 8:14 AM.
