Lowndes County agents crackdown on fentanyl
The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office is participating in a federal initiative to target the sale of illegal drugs in the community.
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – For months, the Lowndes County Narcotics Unit, STING, has worked with state and federal agencies on an investigation to get rid of illicit drugs in the area.
One key tactic has been the undercover purchases of fentanyl.
“The agents were purchasing thousands of dosage units at a time, which is a significant amount of drugs in our community,” said Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins.
In three weeks, the U.S. marshals arrested four men from Lowndes County — 34-year-old Victor Shanklin, 27-year-old Jachai Burton, 25-year-old Jaylon
Shelton and 35-year-old Joshua Wilson.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said three were arrested at their home and one at a traffic stop in the area.
Shanklin, Burton, and Shelton were indicted and arrested for two counts of Sale of Fentanyl each.
And Wilson was indicted and arrested for six counts of Sale of Fentanyl.
“They’ve all been apprehended, and they’re under federal indictment. And they’ve been taken and placed in federal custody now. We’re waiting on the sentencing part of this case,” said Hawkins.
The arrests are a part of an initiative by the drug enforcement administration called “Fentanyl Free America.”
“We are going out and targeting people, who are selling fentanyl is our community. Now fentanyl is a drug that is extremely dangerous and can cause an overdose in the users with just a small out of that drug,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins said some of those pills seized contained a combination of fentanyl & other dangerous substances, like xylazine, also known as “tranq.”
These were the first arrests of the Lowndes County Operation: Roadrunner.
“We’re wanting to send a message to the drug dealers that we are not going to tolerate this. This is something that we’re going to be vigilant about and go out and work hard and diligently about getting these people off the street,” said Hawkins.
The four men are now in the Lafayette County jail as they wait to be sentenced.
More arrests are expected from this operation
