Horry County in South Carolina is grappling with a severe lawlessness crisis as its police have arrested at least 80 suspected criminals involved in a range of serious crimes around South Carolina Highway 9 between Little River and the city of Loris.
Communities residing along the SC-9 suffered from a pattern of crimes in recent days, including murders, vehicle thefts, shootings, home invasions, and much more, which mobilized law enforcement to take immediate action and clean the neighborhoods from the unwanted elements.
Most of these crimes occurred in the area between SC’s Little River and the city of Loris, while the region between Conway and Myrtle Beach also saw some lawlessness.
The unstoppable crime wave urged the Horry County police to make a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate the matter. Among the arrested individuals include at least 40 gang members belonging to different gangs while the police also captured hundreds of grams of drugs, including methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine, alongside capturing a slate of weapons and $18,000 in cash.
Other than police, some other law enforcement agencies also took part in the operations, including the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the SC State Law Enforcement Division, the US Homeland Security, as well as the US Marshal’s Service.
Although law enforcement did not release the list of the arrested individuals initially, the list was later released which included some teenagers as well.
According to the list, the arrests occurred for various reasons, including possession of machine guns, possession of firearms by felons, possession of stolen property, and trafficking of cocaine, fentanyl, meth, and crack. Additional reasons for arrest included providing false information, being wanted by the National Crime Information Center, intent to distribute various controlled substances, failure to stop for law enforcement, reckless driving, driving under suspension, resisting arrest, furnishing contraband into jail, grand larceny, assault and battery, bomb threats, threatening the lives of public officials, possession of stolen firearms, criminal sexual conduct with a minor, attempted armed robbery, domestic violence, and violations of probation.
Deputy Chief of Horry County Police Department, Kris Leonhardt, said that the law enforcement collaborated with its gang unit, which gave them a new perspective in the investigation and ultimately empowered them to make arrests. Reportedly, the police also received a large number of anonymous tips from the affected people during their operation.
