WINTON – An operation involving eight local/state law enforcement agencies resulted in multiple arrests in Hertford County on the weekend of Dec. 8-9.

“Operation Lock Down” was conducted by officers of the Hertford County Sheriff’s Office, Murfreesboro Police Department, Ahoskie Police Department, Down East Drug Task Force, Aulander Police Department, North Carolina Highway Patrol, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, and North Carolina Probation and Parole.

“Despite the bad weather this past weekend, this operation was a success,” stated Hertford County Sheriff Dexter Hayes whose department headed up the operation. “The weather did slow us down a bit, but as long as I’m serving as Sheriff we will be proactive in our efforts to seek out and arrest those involved in criminal activity, no matter if it’s raining, snowing or the sun is shining.

“We worked hard on putting this operation together and that work paid off,” Hayes continued. “We will continue these types of operations to protect and serve the citizens of Hertford County.”

The two-day operation resulted in the following arrests:

Dwight Saunders, 33, of Hayes Street, Ahoskie – PWISD (Possession With Intent to Sell and Deliver) Marijuana, and Sell Marijuana;

Gwendolyn Williams, 53, of Richard Street, Ahoskie – PWISD Marijuana, and Sell Marijuana;

Tyrell Powell, 24, of First Street, Ahoskie – PWISD Marijuana, and Sell Marijuana;

Willie Brown III, 41, of Maple Street, Ahoskie – PWISD Marijuana, and Sell Marijuana;

Corey Perry, 28, of West Street, Ahoskie – PWISD Marijuana, and Sell Marijuana;

Marquis Bell, 22, of Hill Street, Ahoskie – three counts of PWISD Marijuana, and three counts of Sell Marijuana;

Travion Williams, 31, of Chamblee Avenue, Ahoskie – two counts of PWISD Marijuana, and two counts of Sell Marijuana;

Detron Drake, 28, of Catherine Creek Road, Ahoskie – PWISD Marijuana, and Sell Marijuana;

Juan Stevenson Jr., 24, of NC 11 Business, Aulander – Conspiracy to Sell Marijuana;

Brian Valentine, 32, of First Street, Ahoskie – PWISD Marijuana, Sell Marijuana, two counts of PWISD Cocaine, two counts of Sell Cocaine, and Maintaining a Dwelling to Keep/Store Controlled Substance;

Antonio Nixon, 32, of Big Mary Road, Winton – three counts of PWISD Cocaine, and two counts of Maintaining a Dwelling, Sell Cocaine and Deliver Cocaine;

Stace Beale, 40, of Murfreesboro – Sell Cocaine, Deliver Cocaine, and PWISD Cocaine;

Danny Ray Hunter, 33, of Ahoskie – two counts of Sell Marijuana, two counts of Deliver Marijuana, three counts of PWISD Marijuana, and three counts of Maintaining a Dwelling;

Terrance White, 23, of Murfreesboro – two counts of Sell Cocaine, two counts of Deliver Cocaine, two counts of PWISD Cocaine; Sell Sch. VI, Deliver Sch. VI, and three counts of Maintaining a Dwelling;

James Major, 39, of Ahoskie – two counts of Sell Cocaine, two counts of Deliver Cocaine, three counts of PWISD Cocaine, and two counts of Maintaining a Dwelling; and

Kelvin Eason, 27, of Murfreesboro – Sell Marijuana, Deliver Marijuana, and PWISD Marijuana.

The following individuals have been charged, but not yet arrested:

Jordan Beacher, 22, of Creekwood Court, Ahoskie – two counts of PWISD Marijuana, and two counts of Sell Marijuana;

Artavious Moore, 18, of First Street, Ahoskie – PWISD Marijuana, and Sell Marijuana;

Clyde Lee Jr. of Cofield – Sell Cocaine, Deliver Cocaine, PWISD Cocaine, and Maintaining a Dwelling; and

Deshawn Dwight Simmons, 24, of Carlyle Askew Lane, Ahoskie – four counts of PWISD Marijuana, four counts of Sell Marijuana, and four counts of Deliver Marijuana.

All totaled there were 95 felony charges involved in these arrests and/or arrest warrants.

Other arrests included three on probation charges, and one each for Intoxicated and Disruptive, DWI, Larceny, Outstanding Warrant and PWISD of a Schedule VI Drug.

Additionally, the local/state agencies teamed up to conduct a “Wolf Pack” weekend, which involved increased patrols by the officers and/or conducting traffic checkpoints. That effort led to a total of 70 citations issued (31 on Friday and 39 on Saturday).

Those citations were for No Operators License (13), Driving While License Revoked (10), Simple Possession of a Schedule VI Drug (7), Driving with an Expired Registration (6), Driving with No Insurance (4), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (4), Open Container of Alcohol in a Vehicle (4), Driving with a Fictitious/Revoked Registration Plate (3), Allowing an Unlicensed Driver to Operate a Vehicle (3), Failure to Properly Restrain a Child Passenger (3), Vehicle Inspection Violation (2), Stop Sign Violation (2), Underage Possession of Alcohol (2), Unauthorized Possession of Spirituous Liquor (2), and one citation each for Window Tint Violation, Failing to Comply with License Restriction, Permitting Operation of a Vehicle with No Insurance, Open Container of Spirituous Liquor in a Vehicle, and Speeding.

On Saturday night, law enforcement officials visited two clubs to check on ABC permits and other operational items. Abduls in Murfreesboro was given a written warning for an undisclosed violation. The LTD Club in Ahoskie was cited for not labeling bottles correctly, lack of cleanliness, and allowing criminal violations to occur on the premises.

Sheriff Hayes thanked all the agencies involved in the weekend operation.

“It’s like I said before, when you operate a small law enforcement agency in a rural county, it’s vital to have the additional resources and manpower of the municipal police departments in our county as well as the state agencies,” he said. “We all work very well together towards a common goal of performing the investigative work that leads to the arrests of those who break the law.”