‘Huge York bust’: Drug agents seize 2,750 grams meth, guns in SC/NC raid; 2 charged
Two convicted felons have been arrested after drug agents in Rock Hill seized about seven pounds of meth and two guns in one of the largest drug seizures in York County history, according to police and court records.
Agents found around 2,750 grams of methamphetamine and two guns in a traffic stop in Rock Hill and in a Pineville, N.C., motel room in Mecklenburg County, said Marvin Brown, commander of the York County Mutijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit.
Shane Anthony Lee, 40, and Robert Thomas Chapman, 41, both of Rock Hill, are charged with trafficking methamphetamine. Both men also face charges of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and other drug and weapon charges.
Because of previous drug convictions, both men face a minimum of 25 years in prison if convicted of trafficking such a large amount of meth under South Carolina law.
The street value of illegal meth sales, at around $100 per gram, would be more than $275,000, Brown said.
The investigation was a coordinated action with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Brown said.
The meth confiscated Sunday night in the vehicle and across the North Carolina state line near Charlotte is the second-larges haul of methamphetamine in the history of the York County drug unit, Brown said.
“This is a huge bust,” Brown said. “This is meth that now will not get out on the streets.”
Two handguns and more than $2,100 in cash also were seized, according to a drug unit incident report.
On Sunday, drug agents stopped an SUV with Lee and Chapman inside, according to the incident report. One of the guns was seen in a compartment of the driver door, police said.
Inside the vehicle agents found about 210 grams of meth, another gun, and other drugs including heroin and Viagra, according to the report. Drug officers also found two digital scales, police said.
The stop led to a search of the motel room on N.C. 51 in Pineville by York County police, North Carolina officers, and DEA agents, Brown said. In the room agents found more than six pounds of meth, police said.
Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, according to the U.S. government National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The massive seizure by an area county drug unit is the second in less than a month. In November, Lancaster County drug agents seized more than two pounds of meth in Indian Land near an elementary school. That incident was near the York County line and is the largest meth seizure in Lancaster County history.
Lee and Chapman have previous South Carolina felony convictions and are banned from possessing weapons, according to York County court and jail records.
Lee has past convictions for trafficking cocaine, other drug charges, forgery, larceny, and burglary, according to York County court records. Lee is on probation in South Carolina, court and S.C. Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services records show.
Chapman is currently on parole for a 2014 York County conviction for meth distribution where he served about half of a 10-year prison sentence, records show. Chapman also has previous convictions for drugs, larceny, burglary, and assault and battery, according to court documents.
Lee and Chapman are being held without bond at the York County jail.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 12:08 PM.
