Alamance County’s sheriff has announced the success of a multi-agency effort to round up some of the more notorious drug traffickers who have allegedly been plying their trade in this area.
Dubbed “Operation Roadrunner,” this two-year endeavor has been spearheaded by the Alamance Narcotics Enforcement Network (ANET), a county-wide task force that consists of personnel from the local sheriff’s office, Burlington’s municipal police force, and other area agencies.
See full list of suspects, mug shots, and charges HERE
In a news conference on Thursday, sheriff Terry Johnson reported that ANET’s member agencies managed to arrest 42 individuals during this operation, dealing a considerable blow to the criminal networks that have been running drugs through his jurisdiction.
“Today is a bright day for Alamance County,” the sheriff went on to declare. “We have worked and worked trying to catch these people…and the only way we were able to do this is by combining our efforts.”
According to the sheriff’s office, the agencies that took part in this operation have charged the people they’ve arrested with dozens of felony drug offenses that include trafficking in cocaine, cannabis, and methamphetamine. These agencies have also seized a considerable amount of contraband, including 18.6 kilos of coke, 1 kilo of meth, 159 pounds of marijuana, more than two dozen doses of MDMA, 25 illegal firearms, and $876,812 in presumably ill-gotten currency.
Johnson credited much of the operation’s success to interagency cooperation – a sentiment that was shared by many of the other law enforcement officials who took part in the news conference.
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Among the 10 law enforcement officials who flanked the sheriff on Thursday was Burlington’s police chief Alan Balog, whose agency was one of the prime movers behind ANET’s creation. Balog insisted that teamwork has been the task force’s M.O. ever since its formation in 2015.
“ANET is a very unique partnership,” he added, “and it has been enormously successful because the local, the state, and the federal agencies [involved] have all committed to doing the right thing for the public.”
The task force’s efforts were also hailed by the state and federal officials who were on hand for Thursday’s news conference.
Eric Conoway, the assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s office in North Carolina’s Middle District, recalled that his agency helped kick off Operation Roadrunner in 2023 to root out an elusive criminal network that it had been monitoring.
“Over the next 24 months, our talented investigators identified and dismantled this network,” he added. “Make no mistake, our community is safer today due to this investigation.”
Johnson, likewise, conceded many of the operation’s targets had been on his own radar before they wound up in the task force’s net.
“Twenty-five of the 42 people who were arrested are Alamance County residents who have been operating here for years without being touched,” he added. “You’ll laugh when I say this. But when I was an SBI agent, I was chasing the parents of these individuals.”
What follows is an alphabetical list of the suspects from this operation, along with the charges that each of them faces:
- Martavious Devonn Anderson of High Point, 46, trafficking cocaine, possession of cocaine, maintaining a dwelling for the sale of illegal drugs, possession with the intent to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Leroy J.R. Atwater of Mebane, 66, trafficking cocaine, cocaine possession with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs, maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales, and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Marvis Dwann Bigelow of Burlington, 62, two counts of trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to traffic cocaine, and the illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon;
- Gregory Blackwell of Burlington, 67, conspiracy to traffic cocaine and possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana;
- Travis Lamar Booker of Burlington, 41, two counts of trafficking cocaine, two counts of maintaining a dwelling for the sale of controlled substances, possession of both cocaine and marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs; felony marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, misdemeanor child abuse, and the illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon;
- Kenneth Mitchell Brincefield of Burlington, 44, two counts of conspiracy to traffic cocaine, “attempt and conspiracy;”
- Sharon Castelan Castellano of Hillsborough, 21, trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine, possession of both cocaine and methamphetamine with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs, maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales, and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Harry Junior Cates of Mebane, 69, possession with the intent to sell or deliver cocaine;
- Chelsea Alma Delia Vela of Burlington, 35, two counts of trafficking cocaine, possession of both cocaine and marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs, two counts of maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales, felony marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, and misdemeanor child abuse;
- Tajuan Dyreece Galloway of Reidsville, 30, possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana and resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer;
- Edward Lewis Headen of Greensboro, 35, possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana and maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales;
- Varick Devon Holman of Burlington, 56, two counts of trafficking cocaine, cocaine possession with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, and misdemeanor fleeing to elude arrest;
- Donovan Teon Jeffries of Haw River, 36, two counts of trafficking cocaine, cocaine possession with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Antonio Dwayne Johnson of Johnson City, Tennessee, trafficking cocaine;
- Marcus Leroy Johnson of Burlington, 47, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver the drug, the sale and delivery of a Schedule VI controlled substance, and the illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon;
- Rusty Leon Kimber of Burlington, 49, possession with the intent to sell or deliver cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- John Kendall King of Burlington, 58, two felony counts of cocaine possession and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Shawn Lamar Kingsberry of Burlington, 55, trafficking cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Loquirious Kinsey of Durham, 52, two counts of trafficking cocaine;
- Derrick Lamont Leath of Green Level, 48, two counts of trafficking cocaine;
- Jose Rodrigo Machuca Alderete of Burlington, 37, trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to traffic cocaine;
- Dwayne Marchane Lee of Burlington, 56, trafficking cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Jesus Mayorga-Reymundo of Greensboro, 20, two counts of cocaine trafficking;
- Adrion Lacharles McLaughlin of Burlington, 39, two counts of trafficking marijuana, maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales, possession of drug paraphernalia, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor;
- Jonathan Earl McLaughlin of Reidsville, 46, possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana;
- Clifford Lamont Mims of McLeansville, 54, three counts of trafficking cocaine, possession with the intent to sell or deliver cocaine, and felony-level fleeing to elude arrest;
- Andre Manuel Neal of Reidsville, 49, the illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon;
- Timothy James Pugh of Burlington, 36, three counts of trafficking cocaine;
- Justin Keyon Richmond of Burlington, 28, trafficking opium and possession of both Schedule II and Schedule VI controlled substances;
- Tiaera Reynolds of Greensboro, 35, possession with the intent to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Gerardo Rivera-Villareal of Hillsborough, 26, trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine, possession of both cocaine and methamphetamine with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs, maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales, and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Jeffrey Marshel Ruffin of Hillsborough, 64, possession with the intent to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Jeffrey Lee Thompson of Pleasant Garden, 53, trafficking cocaine, possession of both cocaine and marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver the drugs, maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales, and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Kelly Torres Rivera of Burlington, 25, trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to traffic cocaine, possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana, and misdemeanor child abuse;
- Flavio Vargas Bustos of Asheboro, 32, possession with the intent to sell or deliver cocaine, maintaining a dwelling or vehicle for illegal drug sales, manufacturing, sell, or distributing a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a park, and the illegal possession of firearm by a previously convicted felon;
- Angel Villareal of Hillsborough, 40, possession with the intent to sell or deliver cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Eric Nolan Walker of Burlington, 37, possession with the intent to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Shalela Lace Walker of Burlington, 33, three counts of trafficking cocaine;
- Dominique Jamaal Watkins of Reidsville, 46, trafficking marijuana, possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana, maintaining a dwelling for illegal drug sales, and maintaining a vehicle for illegal drug sales;
- Anthony Inell Watson of Mebane, 56, trafficking cocaine;
- Cedric Lamont Watson of Mebane, 45, possession with the intent to sell or deliver marijuana and a counterfeit controlled substance, three counts of the illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, and the possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Michael Lamar Wiley of Burlington, 43, conspiracy to traffic cocaine and membership in a continuing criminal enterprise.
