Gaston County was one of four counties to participate in “Operation I-85 South” this past week.
The probation and parole operation began Monday, June 3 and lasted until Friday, June 7. Within that week, it netted a total of 33 arrests, seizing various amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin and five handguns.
The warrant-less search operation was conducted at residences of 116 offenders on probation, parole or post-release supervision. Those individuals were subject to the warrantless searches as a condition of their release.
“Operations like this make it clear to probationers and parolees that conditions of supervision will be strictly enforced, and illegal activity will not be tolerated,” said Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan. “We are grateful to all of our local and federal law enforcement partners for their assistance in this operation.”
Probation and parole officer from the Department of Public Safety and local and federal law enforcement officers including Gastonia Police and Gaston County Sheriff’s Department participated.
The four arrested in Gaston County are listed below:
- Mark Price, 45, charged with possession of heroin.
- Ortavious Lynch, 23, charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
- Javaraious Burris, 25, charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana.
- Nikki Perez, 30, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The other three counties to participate in the effort were Mecklenburg, Rowan and Cabarrus counties.