SYLVA, N.C. (WLOS) — The U.S. Attorney’s Office helped host a Rural Crime Summit, where federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies gathered to discuss crime within the rural counties of North Carolina.
Law enforcement agencies gathered at Southwestern Community College to address violent crime issues in their areas and focus on crime reduction. U.S. District Attorney Russ Ferguson says violent crime has decreased.
“It may be down seeing drug dealers shoot drug dealers or violent criminals shooting violent criminals, but we’re seeing more random crime. We’ve seen shootings in downtown Asheville, and so I think that’s an alarming trend,” he said.
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Ferguson says when it comes to illegal substances, his office is seeing more fentanyl than meth. The biggest concerns for agencies attending the summit, however, were vape shops and gas stations that sell products that may contain THC.
“All the locals, the sheriffs, the local police were saying, ‘We need help with vape shops. It’s been a nuisance on the community,'” Ferguson said.
Ferguson says a significant initiative in his office revolves around this concern.
“What we have found, we can send the [district attorney] or a local sheriff into a vape shop or a gas station. They can buy a product. In most instances, they can buy a product that tests for THC or something that’s not legal to sell, but then they can seize that product, and it’s back the next day,” Ferguson said.
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Additionally, Ferguson says the initiative focusing on these shops has often evolved, with them looking into the wholesalers of the products.
“It’s become a money-laundering investigation because we have found a lot of the money from those operations is going to other countries and being laundered, and we think that may be a more effective way to do it,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson says it’s been a huge initiative for his office, especially with vape shops and gas stations that have international connections, because it creates a federal case.
“I’m not saying every hemp dispensary is selling illegal products, whereas some of these gas stations and things that advertise some of these products on the window more likely are, but yes, I mean we’re looking at everything, so if you’re a hemp dispensary and you’re selling legal products, no problem,” Ferguson said.
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Other law enforcement agencies that attended the summit listened to concerns, offering tools to help western North Carolina agencies.
“North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement offered a device they have to test marijuana products in these vape shops and see whether they have THC or not, if they’re legal or not, and they can do that in 30 minutes on the spot,” Ferguson said.
With the device offered by ALE, law enforcement agencies can develop probable cause, helping them get search warrants for the shops they’re investigating.
Ferguson said one of his biggest takeaways from the summit is that there is a lot of crime that needs to be handled through joint investigations.
Source: wlos.com
