13 are charged in drug roundup
By John Joyce
Published in News on June 3, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Cpl. Wesley Cannon escorts one of 13 suspects arrested in a multi-agency drug raid conducted in Mount Olive Tuesday. The roundup, headed up by the Mount Olive Police Department and assisted by the Wayne County and Duplin County Sheriff's Offices, is the culmination of a six-month undercover operation that identified a total of 18 suspects. Further arrests are pending.
A six-month undercover investigation into drug dealing on the streets of Mount Olive culminated in a sweeping raid Tuesday morning.
Twelve of 18 suspects were apprehended after search warrants were served simultaneously on two separate locations during Operation: Clean Streets, Mount Olive police Chief Tommy Brown said.
A 13th arrest was made when a suspect with outstanding warrants also was caught up in the sweep.
"We had the Wayne County and Duplin County SWAT teams execute two search warrants," he said.
Brown said a newly appointed drug officer tasked strictly with working narcotics cases was assigned earlier this year. Since then, that officer initiated and oversaw the extensive undercover operation. The officer was not identifed due to the nature of his work.
Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce, present at the outset of Tuesday morning's raid, said he was "ecstatic" at the level of cooperation between agencies.
"We've got an investigator working down there with Mount Olive on a consistent basis, Sgt. Matt Miller with the FBI gang squad. He has been down there working with them," Pierce said.
By the time Pierce left Mount Olive to attend a meeting of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners back in Goldsboro -- about 45 minutes into the operation -- eight suspects were already in custody.
Brown said the operation, the first of its kind during his tenure with the department, was a great success overall.
"We had 50 to 55 law enforcement officers here assisting us with this operation today," Brown said. He said long-term operations such as this go a long way to making the streets of Mount Olive safer for its citizens.
Officers from Mount Olive, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and the Duplin County Sheriff's Office then went out and arrested additional suspects identified throughout the course of the investigation.
"We also had representatives from the FBI Violent Gang Task Force, the DEA and the ATF," Brown said. Also involved were the N.C. Department of Probation and Parole, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Wayne County Magistrate's Office.
To streamline the process, a mobile magistrate's office was positioned outside the Mount Olive Police Department. Suspects were apprehended and interviewed, then escorted over to the magistrate to be officially charged. A van transported groups of suspects from Mount Olive to the Wayne County Detention Center in Goldsboro. Once booked into the jail, suspects were eligible to post bond, Brown said.
"There will be another vanload of them taking them to the jail to be processed, booking them into the jail. Then it is just a process of them making a phone call and having someone come up and stand bond for them," he said.
Additional arrests are forthcoming.
Those arrested included:
* The following people were charged in Tuesday's drug raid in Mount Olive
* Aaron Jermaine Smith, 30, 426 E. Hillsboro St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Larry Allen, 53, 504 Bell Ave., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Willie Thomas Smith, 43, 204 S. Slocumb St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Antonio Artis, 20, 712 Oliver St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, sale and delivery of cocaine, possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine, conspiracy to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Shavon Damontay Vann, 21, 503 S. Church St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Rahean Lamar Robinson, 28, 217 S. Center St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, conspiracy to sell marijuana, sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Michael Mccullen, 31, 1019 S. Center St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Santos Rodriguez, 25, 1117 N. Center St., sale of cocaine, delivery of cocaine, sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, conspiracy to sell and deliver cocaine.
* Christian Humphrey, 20, 120 Andrews Circle, sale and delivery of a counterfeit controlled substance, possession with intent to sell and deliver a counterfeit controlled substance, creating a counterfeit controlled substance.
* Decarlus Jarmall Hamilton, 32, sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Sean Carter, 35, 113 E. Kornegay St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.
* Deromie Bizzell, 24, 105 Claytor St., sale and delivery of cocaine, possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine.
* James Bell, 55, 408 Silver St., sale and delivery of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.