SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — The Sumter County Sheriff's Office said it uncovered enough fentanyl to potentially kill thousands while serving a recent search warrant.
The sheriff's office said members of its narcotics unit were executing a search warrant on Thursday at a home on Lois Lane when they found several drugs - but one authorities highlighted as a particular concern amid the ongoing opioid epidemic.
According to a statement shared on Friday, deputies found 45.6 grams of fentanyl. The sheriff's office said, based on numbers released by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, that would be enough to kill more than 22,000 people, with only two milligrams considered lethal.
Two people were arrested in the investigation, 20-year-old Zuri Laxenda Saadiq Cokley and 23-year-old Jashai Dyrell Mellette, both from Sumter.
Cokley was charged with trafficking in cocaine, 100 to 200 grams - second offense; trafficking in crack, 28 to 100 grams, second offense; trafficking in fentanyl, 28 or more, second offense; possession with intent to distribute marijuana, first offense; possession of a Schedule 2 controlled substance, manufacture of crack cocaine, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and possession of a stolen firearm.
Mellette was charged with trafficking in cocaine, 100 to 200 grams - first offense; trafficking in crack, 28 to 100 grams - first offense; trafficking in fentanyl 28 or more - first offense; possession with intent to distribute marijuana - third or subsequent offense, possession of a Schedule 2 controlled substance, manufacturing crack cocaine, possession of a firearm during a violent crime and possession of a stolen firearm.
Sheriff Anthony Dennis thanked the community and investigators for making the arrests possible.
"We had received multiple complaints by citizens, and our officers were able to shut down a major drug trafficking operation," Sheriff Anthony Dennis said.
Cokley and Mellette are being held at the Sumter County Detention Center after a judge denied them bond.