GREENVILLE COUNTY, SC (WSPA) – Deputies seized a large amount of firearms and drugs after responding to a South Carolina home to help a person in distress from an apparent drug overdose.
According to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, deputies and Greenville Fire EMS crews responded to an emergency call for help at a home on Pine Hill Drive on Monday and when they arrived on-scene, they found an unresponsive victim being given CPR.
EMS responders identified the victim as being in distress from an apparent drug overdose and administered Narcan, saving the victim.
“Our deputies and emergency first responders never know what they may encounter when arriving to a call for assistance. It was the quick thinking of the deputies and emergency responders who saved this person’s life,” Sheriff Hobart Lewis said. “The event illustrates the dangers drugs continue to bring to our community. Not only did this individual risk their own lives but the lives of the responding deputies and EMS personnel.”
A search warrant was obtained on the home after deputies saw narcotics and narcotic paraphernalia in the home, and the Greenville County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit responded to the scene.
During the search, deputies found a makeshift homemade narcotics press, which is used to put drugs in paper items.
“The use of the homemade press and individual’s layman’s knowledge of creating narcotic mixtures is believed to be the direct result of the overdose,” according to the release.
“The DEU has now responded in the first part of 2020 to four locations where these “garage chemists” concoct mixtures of tablets and drug combinations,” Commander Bart McEntire, GCMDEU said. “The dangers posed by these so-called experts are uncalled for and place everyone in danger –themselves, first-responders, users, and the public.”
“In addition to the homemade drug press, law enforcement officers found one pound of fentanyl, ounces of methamphetamine, a mixture of liquefied methamphetamine, and 100 firearms. Drugs in combination with firearms bring nothing but pain, misery, and many occasions death. Lucky for this drug dealer, first-responders saved his life and removed the products of suffering,” Lewis said. “I am incredibly proud to lead a law enforcement agency that not only saves lives, but continues to remove narcotics and firearms from our communities. By working together with the DEU, we are removing illegal drugs, saving lives and improving our communities.”
According to the release, deputies arrested Larry Ray Fagan and charged him with trafficking, distribution of methamphetamine, possession of stolen firearms and possession of firearms during a violent crime.