Results announced of Fayetteville operations targeting drug trafficking, illegal weapons
A joint task force of state, federal and local agencies touted recent efforts to tackle drug trafficking and illegal weapons Thursday that resulted in the indictments of 17 people over the past two months.
Michael Easley, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said the indictments were part of two separate initiatives, the Violent Crime Action Plan and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
“It is an impressive lineup of law enforcement and community leaders that comprise this partnership,” Easley said.
Easley was joined at the news conference at City Hall by Fayetteville Police Department Chief Kemberle Braden, Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West and Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright. The operations were staffed by members of the Fayetteville Police Department, Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, Cumberland County District Attorney's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshal Services and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Easley said that during the investigations, 16 guns, almost 1,500 rounds of ammunition, an ounce of fentanyl, 100 fentanyl/MDMA pills, nearly a kilogram of cocaine, a 2021 Mercedes SUV and a 2022 Cadillac Escalade were seized.
“We are here today speaking as one team with one voice with one message — that gun violence and the trafficking of dangerous narcotics in this community will not be tolerated,” he said.
Easley said the announcement came now because officials wanted to highlight the danger of drugs and illegal firearms as the summer begins.
“We know we are on the precipice of the hot summer months when violence tends to peak,” he said.
The 17 defendants face a total of more than 30 federal charges, Easley said.
One area of concern for Easley’s team is the use of auto-sear machine gun switches, or giggle switches, which convert semiautomatic Glock handguns into fully automatic machine guns, he said.
“This is a tiny switch that fits in the palm of a hand,” he said, holding up a picture of such a switch. “Shooters should beware — if you commit a crime of violence or a drug trafficking offense and use a switch in your gun in furtherance of that crime, you will face a 30-year mandatory minimum in federal prison.”
Eight of the 17 defendants are felons who allegedly possessed firearms, and two were allegedly involved in shootings at Fayetteville hotels, Easley said.
“Shooters should beware that the ATF is here with us in the room and that their federal agents and task force officers are fast-tracking shooters for federal prosecution,” he warned.
Eight of the defendants face charges of drug trafficking, five of whom are charged with trafficking methamphetamine and three of whom are charged with the armed trafficking of fentanyl, Easley said.
Previous drug trafficking case: Man gets 40 years in prison for dealing drugs out of Fayetteville daycare center in 2018
Recent convictions
Easley also announced the conviction of a group of Fayetteville-based fentanyl traffickers tied to the Sinaloa drug cartel.
“The organization used Fayetteville as a hub, securing dozens of kilograms of fentanyl from Chicago, Boston and Atlanta,” he said.
West said the indictments fell under three key areas his office is targeting — drug trafficking, illegal weapons and community violence.
“We’ve had way too much gun violence in our community — senseless murders, senseless shootings that are maiming people,” he said. “We’ll continue to aggressively prosecute those cases in whatever jurisdiction is most appropriate.”
Easley said his team urges young people to avoid taking street drugs.
“Every young person needs to know — this is not 2008. You cannot dabble with drugs in 2023,” he said. “Fentanyl is laced into everything that we see.”
West said education is also crucial in mitigating gun violence.
“There’s an education piece to this that they need to understand the dangers of firearms,” he said. “They also need to quit treating firearms like a fashion accessory. They are not.”
Public safety reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Results announced of Fayetteville operations targeting drug trafficking, illegal weapons
