Heroin, 8 guns seized in arrest
By Andrew Bell
Published in News on October 27, 2005 1:54 PM
Following a routine traffic stop, the Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Team, a division of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, seized 100 bags of heroin, $1,400 in cash and eight firearms.
Daryl Pittman, 38, of LaGrange, was stopped in the Hood Swamp area of Wayne County at 11 a.m. Wednesday for driving with a revoked license.
The stop yielded 100 small bags of heroin with a street value of approximately $3,500, said Sgt. Chris Worth of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. Each small bag contained a tenth of a gram of heroin, Worth said.
Along with the drugs, deputies also seized about $1,400.
After the traffic stop, Sheriff's Office investigators got a search warrant for Pittman's residence in La Grange. During the search, the ACE Team seized two 9mm pistols, two shotguns, two rifles and two assault rifles, Worth said.
"This is originally what the team was designed to do -- utilize traffic enforcement to confiscate drugs," Sheriff Carey Winders said. "We all praise the ACE Team for their effort and hard work."
Pittman was placed under arrest and charged with felony charges of trafficking heroin by possession, trafficking heroin by transport and maintaining a vehicle for a controlled substance, according to the sheriff's office report.
The secured bond was set at $500,000.
The investigation concerning the weapons seized at the residence is continuing. No charges relating to those weapons have been filed.
This is the most recent in a string of drug arrests in the county.
Last week, a two-year investigation into drug trafficking in Wayne County culminated with the arrests of 28 people and the seizure of $1.6 million in cash, drugs and property. The seized drugs included more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana and 125 pounds of cocaine.
Earlier this week, 20 street-level and mid-level drug dealers were sought following a year-long undercover campaign by the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad. The investigation led to the seizure of $23,545 worth of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.