Undercover drug operation seizes nearly 160 pounds of meth across the Carolinas
LINCOLNTON, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Ten people, including one from Lincolnton, have been charged in connection to buying drugs from Mexico, the Lincolnton County Sheriff’s Office said.
Throughout the investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration agents found 159 pounds of methamphetamine from Greenville, Anderson, and Pickens Counties in South Carolina and Lincoln County in North Carolina.
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The undercover operation began in Lincoln County in Sept. 2022, officials said. Investigators found more than 14 kilograms of methamphetamine, eight firearms, and $27,000.
In Dec. 2022, based on information provided by North Carolina law enforcement agencies, agents in Greenville, S.C. began to target suspects who were transporting drugs from Mexico.
Deputies say the drugs were being supplied by two fugitives who were in Mexico to avoid state charges. One of them was later extradited back to South Carolina and is now incarcerated in Columbia.
19 people charged in connection to shipping drugs from California to South Carolina
The operation ended in Nov. 2023 with 10 people receiving federal indictments including 42-year-old Joseph Eugene Jones from Lincolnton.
Jones was arrested on a true bill of indictment on Jan. 31, 2024, and was charged with:
Drug distribution conspiracy
Distribution of methamphetamine
Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
Possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine
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