South Carolina law enforcement busts “Duffle Bag Boyz” alleged drug and dogfighting network
LANCASTER CO., SC – A South Carolina grand jury has indicted more than two dozen people, including five prison inmates, in connection with a large drug trafficking and dogfighting investigation. Attorney General Alan Wilson says cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana and guns were just some of the items seized from the group know as the “Duffle Bag Boyz.” Wilson says that our streets are now safer with this group behind bars. He says, “This is a violent trade, right? The currency is death and destruction.”
Law enforcement’s investigation uncovered a staggering network of narcotics trafficking and animal cruelty in South Carolina. Wilson announced Wednesday that Operation Duffle Bag Boyz cracked a dangerous network, primarily operating in Chester and Lancaster Counties. The operation led to the arrest of 25 defendants on 129 counts. Investigators say they recovered more than 17 pounds of contraband, including methamphetamine, cocaine, and 30 firearms. Wilson says, “These guns are now off the streets. These individuals are now off the streets, and obviously will be prosecuted and, and hopefully put in prison for a long time.”
Authorities say they also seized lethal doses of fentanyl and a drug called cychlorphine, an opioid ten times stronger than fentanyl, which they say was enough to kill more than a million people. The bust also exposed a brutal dogfighting ring, leading to the seizure of 47 dogs. Wilson says, “Many of these animals, sadly because of how they’ve been raised and how they’ve been treated, had to be euthanized,”
Even more shockingly, five suspects are currently state inmates, accused of directing the street-running via illegal cellphones from behind prison bars. Wilson says, “The use of cell phones in prisons rears its ugly head again,”
Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile says he has made it a priority to bring down drug dealers. Faile says, “We have always made it a priority here to target those responsible for going around our community, dealing illegal narcotics. These drugs ruin lives, destroy families, and far too often end in death.”
The investigation is ongoing. More bond hearings are scheduled for Thursday morning in Richland County.
