South Carolina Grand Jury Indicts 25 People on 129 Charges in 'Duffle Bag Boyz' Drug and Dogfighting Ring
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced on October 21 that the State Grand Jury has indicted 25 defendants on 129 charges in a takedown of a drug trafficking network based mainly in Chester and Lancaster counties, in an operation dubbed "Duffle Bag Boyz." The organization is accused of trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana in the state's central region; some defendants are also tied to dogfighting, and five are inmates of the state Department of Corrections.
The roughly 18-month investigation was led by the State Grand Jury with the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Chester and Lancaster county sheriff's offices, Homeland Security Investigations, the Lancaster Police Department and the FBI. Before the October 20 roundup, investigators had seized 2.62 pounds of fentanyl, 6.88 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.21 pounds of cocaine, 4.5 ounces of crack cocaine, 2.5 pounds of marijuana, more than 30 firearms and over 10,000 pressed fentanyl pills, and recovered 47 dogs. The roundup itself netted more than four additional pounds of suspected fentanyl and more guns, with lab analysis pending.
Wilson said illegal drugs plague communities large and small across the state and that the State Grand Jury is the right mechanism for combining multi-agency resources. Defendants who have not yet had bond hearings are scheduled to appear on October 22 in Richland County court before Judge Heath Taylor.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：南卡罗来纳州议会大厦（Columbia）。摄影：Columbia Cigar & Tobacco Co. (publisher)，Public domain（Wikimedia Commons）。Photo: the South Carolina State House in Columbia. Photo by Columbia Cigar & Tobacco Co. (publisher), Public domain (Wikimedia Commons).
