20 charged following drug task force operation in the Cape Fear

18 of the 20 charged were from the Cape Fear area and the operation was part of a continuing effort to end drug- and firearm-related crime. 

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation resulted in the charging and arrest of 20 defendants for various offenses, including drug trafficking and firearms offenses. 18 of 20 of those defendants were from the Cape Fear area.

An OCDETF investigation is a federal, state, and local strategy to combat drug trafficking and organized crime, and it is the nation’s primary tool to take down drug trafficking organizations.

The investigation was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and assisted

by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States Marshals Service, the Brunswick, Bladen, and Duplin County Sheriffs’ Offices, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

ATF utilized agents from North and South Carolina as well as Task Force Officers from the New Hanover and Brunswick County Sheriffs’ Offices and the Jacksonville, Goldsboro, and Wilmington Police Departments.

This initiative is part of a larger commitment to fight crime in Brunswick, New Hanover, Duplin, and Bladen counties in partnership with United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the District Attorney’s Offices, as well as other federal, state, and local law enforcement.