JOHNSONVILLE, SC (WBTW) – The City of Johnsonville has fewer suspected drug dealers on the street after the Florence County Sheriff’s Office conducted a raid early Wednesday morning. According to a press release from the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, investigators also found a methamphetamine lab.
The small town has a population of about 1,500 people and Johnsonville Rescue Squad Chief Thomas Redmond says the number of overdoses his team responds to is increasing to alarming numbers, especially considering the tiny population.
Redmond recalls in January, emergency responders were called to three overdoses in three days, one of which resulted in the death of a 20-year-old. Since March of last year, there have been 25 overdoses, three of which were fatal. Redmond adds not only is the drug lethal, its also cheap, easy to find, and often laced with fentanyl.
“Never in the history of Johnsonville Rescue have we seen an epidemic like this,” says Redmond. “Our job is to save lives, but these drugs are taking them.”
Law enforcement agencies are working to drag the drug dealers to jail before more people have to die.
“We’ve had just recently, a young lady lost her life to this,” says Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone. “We’ve known for some time that we’ve had a serious problem here in the Johnsonville area.”
The Florence County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office and Johnsonville police early Wednesday morning to execute multiple arrest warrants. Deputies started at nearly 5 a.m., and by 8:30 a.m, 13 suspected dealers were carted off to jail, according to the sheriff’s office.
“These dealer are responsible for overdoses and death. When we can go after those people and remove some of the heroin that is on our streets, this operation obviously has been successful,” says Boone.
Sheriff Boone says the heroin battle in Johnsonville started in 2013, and since then, deputies have been working to rid the deadly drug, and those who buy and sell it, from the city.
“We have to rely on the public.The public is our eyes and ears. We get information from them. We understand there are problems in particular areas, and we will address those issues. We will start undercover operations to make sure we take care of these communities,” promises Boone.
Major Mike Nunn with the sheriff’s office says Florence County has seen an increase in heroin related overdoses and deaths, and raids are one way to clear the streets of dealers while also keeping the public safe.
“The impact of this activity on our streets has been devastating,” expresses Nunn. “The ultimate goal is to respond when the suspects are unaware and are not expecting us. We respond with overwhelming force to eliminate any notion that they may have about resisting arrest.”
Nunn says Wednesday’s raid is one of the largest in recent years, and as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 15 arrests had been made.
“This is not just a Florence problem, or a Johnsonville problem,” reports Nunn. “This is a national problem. The problem is huge, and we’re doing everything to try to combat it.”
Operation Clean Sweep is comprised of officers from the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, FCSO SWAT, FCSO Special Operations, FCSO Tracking Team, FCSO Aviation, Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office, Johnsonville Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service and SLED. According to the sheriff’s office, the operation was the result of an undercover narcotics investigation going on for almost a year.
Bond was set for many of the suspects in court Thursday morning with the amounts ranging from $15,000 to $65,000. As of Thursday afternoon, at least 10 had set bonds and two were already out of jail.
