CHARLOTTE, NC — Five people are facing federal charges for their involvement in a heroin trafficking ring being operated in Mecklenburg County.
In a release sent out Tuesday, officials say Maggie Sanders, 36, Kevin Bell, 24, Jamie McDaniel, 31, Joshua Gregory, 28, all of Concord, and Elyssa Shuford, 37, of Gastonia, have all been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin.
Bell and McDaniel are also charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, and Shuford is also charged with two counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin. Sanders is charged additionally with one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Officials say 11 other members of the conspiracy are facing state drug charges. Those suspects include Kenneth Bell, Silas Swain, Monica Bell, Jessica James, Christopher Godwin, Sara Weaver, Charles Anderson, Jason Lavender, Michael Lowe, James Proctor, and Timothy Bennett.
During the investigation investigators say they seized more than 10 kilograms of heroin and five firearms in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus Counties. The drugs were being shipped into the western part of North Carolina from Mexico, according to reports.
