IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Iredell County investigators gave Channel 9 an exclusive look at thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs swept off the streets since Friday.
The busts are the latest in a string of arrests as the county continues its aggressive enforcement actions against drug dealers.
Sheriff Darren Campbell said cracking down on dealers is not just a top priority for investigators but for fed-up community members. His office is seeing more anonymous tips helping them weed out drugs in the community.
"I would like to see a big change," said lifelong resident Shirley Lawrence.
Lawrence said her neighborhood street in Statesville is safe but she has to dodge drug activity around Iredell County.
"Drug activity is very high in this town in certain areas" she said. "I think about my grand-babies and they're seeing all this," she said.
The sheriff pointed to emails from other concerned residents tipping off investigators to hot spots for drug deals.
One tip helped bust a woman accused of dealing to undercover officers and rounded up with nearly two dozen repeat offenders on April 1 in Operation No Fooling.
"Nationally everyone sees a lot of drugs, we see a lot of it and the thing we are responsible for is our citizens in that we want to be very proactive versus reactive,” Campbell said.
Since Friday, they've joined other agencies arresting two men accused of growing more than 200 marijuana plants in Mooresville. On two separate traffic stops, deputies recovered more than $20,000 worth of meth.
"Anything from heroin, cocaine, crack, different scheduled drugs. If you're selling it we are going to catch you,” Campbell said.
The sheriff says they're having detectives from different departments double up on cases in what they call "hybrid investigations."
They’re also relying on aggressive interstate patrols to catch large batches of drugs before they hit the streets.
"I want this to be a safe environment for generations to come," Lawrence said.
In addition to arresting more dealers the sheriff is also advocating for higher bail amounts to keep repeat offenders off the streets.
In a 9 investigation we discovered the sheriff had major concerns over low bail amounts for suspected drug dealers.
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