Two Myrtle Beach men arrested on drug trafficking charges in Brunswick County
BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — Agents with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Vice and Narcotics Unit and the Horry County Police Department have arrested two men on drug related charges.
The arrests come after a month long joint investigation targeting methamphetamine trafficking between Brunswick and Horry Counties.
On April 29th, BCSO Vice and Narcotics, with the assistance of the BCSO Selective Enforcement Unit, conducted a vehicle stop on HWY 17 near Thomasboro Rd. on a Dodge Ram truck driven by 42-year-old Hassan A. Benhamedane, of Myrtle Beach, SC with 39-year-old passenger Andrew Ryan Morton, also of Myrtle Beach.
157.9 grams of methamphetamine, 44.3 grams of heroin, 6.5 grams of marijuana, 10.2 grams of crack, 11.6 grams of pressed fentanyl pills, 24 dosage units of alprazolam, 5 amphetamine pills and 2 unknown pills was seized as a result of the stop.
Following the traffic stop, Horry County Police Department conducted a search warrant at the residence of Benhamedane on Old Bryan Rd. in Myrtle Beach. That search yielded 1,438.5 grams of marijuana, 224.7 grams of cocaine, 37.1 grams of heroin, 40.2 grams of crack, 180.76 grams of methamphetamine, 100+ grams of Xanax and pressed fentanyl, and over $5,000 in cash.
Both men have been charged with 4 counts of trafficking heroin, 2 counts of trafficking methamphetamine, 2 counts of conspiring to traffic heroin, conspiring to traffic methamphetamine, PWIMSD heroin, PWISD methamphetamine, among many other drug-related charges.
Morton and Benhamedane were booked into the Brunswick County Detention Facility where they remain as of today.
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office say they are extremely grateful to the Horry County Police Department for their joint efforts in this investigation. They say this sends a strong message to those trafficking drugs across the NC/SC border there are no jurisdictional boundaries and law enforcement agencies across county lines, and state lines are working together to keep them out of our communities.
