Two men were recently arrested on felony drug charges, including another as part of the Sampson County Sheriff’s “Dirty South” campaign targeting dealers in the southern end of the county, according to reports released by Sheriff’s authorities.

James Daniel McKoy, 51, of 80 Sugarhill Lane, Garland, was served with warrants for his arrest on seven felony drug charges. The warrants. issued Nov. 19, 2015, were reportedly served at the Sampson County Sheriff”s Office on Jan. 12.

McKoy has been charged on warrants with two counts of possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine, three counts of selling and delivering a Schedule II controlled substance and two counts of conspiring to sell and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance.

McKoy was placed under $30,000 secured bond for the charges.

His is the latest arrest made as part of the Sheriff’s Office’s “Dirty South” campaign, which targeted what investigators called “an overwhelming number of drug complaints” originating mainly in the southern end of Sampson.

Early last year, investigators with the Sheriff’s Special Investigations Division started a campaign in an answer to those complaints, dubbing the operation “Dirty South” due to its geographic focus. The operation closed in on street-level drug sales of marijuana, cocaine, meth and opiates.

On Nov. 19, investigators began making their first of numerous drug arrests from the campaign. Last month, it was announced that nearly 40 suspects had been arrested and charged in connection with the campaign, with still “numerous more” to be made.

“These arrests should send a strong and clear message to those who choose to deal drugs in Sampson County that they need to find another occupation or they’re going to end up in our jail,” Sheriff Jimmy Thornton stated following the massive first wave of arrests.

In a separate drug arrest, Timothy Paul Ledford Jr., 38, of 701 N. Orange Ave., Dunn, was charged with one felony county of possession of heroin. He was arrested the afternoon of Jan. 13 at an address on North Jada Allen Road, Dunn, during which a tenth of a gram of the drug was seized.

He was placed under $10,000 secured bond for the charge.

Reach Managing Editor Chris Berendt at 910-249-4616. Follow the paper on twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.

By Chris Berendt

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