SHERIFF'S TEAM TARGETS UPPER DORCHESTER COUNTY

ST. GEORGE -- A special Dorchester County Sheriff's Department team of
deputies has been saturating the upper county in the last few weeks
searching for drug activity.

Several violent, drug-related crimes in the upper county, along with tips
from residents on suspected criminal activity, have kept the men busy in
the Reevesville, Holly Hill, Shady Grove and Utsey Hill areas this week.

Maj. Tim Stephenson is head of the aggressive patrol unit. He said his team
may use marked or unmarked vehicles, along with drug dogs, to target drug
activity in the county's rural areas. Stephenson said that any arrest of
drug traffickers takes them off the street for a short period of time, but
more importantly adds to their arrest record.

"Simple possession of marijuana for a first offense doesn't draw a major
fine or jail time," he said. "But, even a second offense is much more
serious. It all adds up. If you're carrying drugs in Dorchester County,
then understand that you can be arrested and jailed at any time."

The unit recently arrested seven men in Reevesville on a variety of drug
and liquor charges.

Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash assembled the team from deputies in the
narcotics division and the K-9 units, and he has temporarily moved Sgt. Ed
Pumphrey from the Summerville area to the upper county to assist and
supervise the aggressive drug patrol.

The team of Pumphrey, PFCs R. Botten, Shawn Gibbons and Mike Caudle, along
with Stephenson, has extensive drug interdiction and narcotics training.
They will be conducting the zero drug tolerance patrols for the next
several months.

The Dorchester County Sheriff's ICE (Interstate Criminal Enforcement) Team
has also been busy patrolling the interstates and continues to confiscate
drugs and drug money along I-95 and I-26. The ICE Team and the upper county
drug patrols will be doing some combined projects in the coming months.

Stephenson said the squad has been conducting several types of operations
in the upper county, and he's seen that it's already made a "huge impact"
on local drug trafficking.

"We're just getting started up here," he said. "There's going to be a lot
more to come."

Citizens can report suspicious behavior directly to the team in St. George
at 843-563-0307. The Sheriff's Department wants residents to be its eyes
and ears to help alert deputies to possible criminal activity.