Three arrested, nearly $200,000 of heroin and fentanyl seized in Sumter County raid
For the second time in two weeks, Sumter County sheriff’s deputies have made arrests involving a large quantity of opiates.
On May 1, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit executed search warrants on two houses following what deputies described as an “extensive investigation.”
The raids, announced Friday, resulted in the arrests of three suspects, the recovery of several firearms and the seizure of methamphetamine, cocaine and almost three pounds of what investigators believe to be a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, with an estimated street value of $198,000.
Jalik Shykeil Tucker, 28, of Camden, Shajuan Johnson, 20, of Dalzell, and Stacie Anita Latrelle Wright, 41, also of Dalzell, were arrested the same day. The suspects “frequented” the houses where the search warrants were executed, according to a statement released by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to 1,320 grams of heroin/fentanyl mixture, the sheriff’s office said that the raids also yielded 644 grams of methamphetamine with an approximate street value of $32,200 and 286 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of $28,600. Investigators also seized an “undisclosed amount of cash” and three guns, one of which had been illegally modified.
Tucker has been charged with trafficking in methamphetamine and cocaine, possession with intent to distribute and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He is being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County with a $150,000 surety bond.
Johnson was charged with three counts of trafficking in methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. She was released from Sumter County Detention Center on May 2 on a $7,500 cash surety bond.
Wright was charged with two counts of possession of narcotics and one count of distribution of methamphetamine. She was also released from the Sumter County Detention Center Thursday after posting a $5,000 surety bond.
The three arrests come less than two weeks after Sumter deputies arrested Kori Dairon Green allegedly in possession of a bag containing an estimated two kilograms of suspected heroin with a street value of approximately $200,000. In addition to the heroin, Green is alleged to have had a large sum of money and a gun that was previously reported stolen.
In a statement, Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis expressed his gratitude for the investigators involved in the joint multi-jurisdictional operation to combat drug trafficking in Sumter.
“Our people don’t want recognition, but the public needs to know the work of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office never sleeps,” Dennis said. “These men and women put in long hours, often in dangerous settings, to stop evildoers from spreading their poison in our county.”
The heroin/fentanyl mixture is being analyzed in order to determine how much fentanyl is present, said Dr. Mark Bordeaux, a sheriff’s department spokesperson.
Fentanyl, which one sheriff’s office narcotics investigator called “public enemy number one,” has been the driving force behind the alarming rise in overdose deaths in South Carolina. In 2021, the state recorded a 25% spike in drug overdose deaths, according to a report released Friday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl rose by more than 35% in South Carolina between 2020 and 2021, according to the report. Of the total 2,168 overdose deaths in the state in 2021, 1,494 were due to fentanyl.
