LANCASTER, S.C.,None — In an operation dubbed "Swift Strike," the Lancaster County Sheriff's office arrested dozens of people Wednesday night in a matter of hours.
More than 40 have already gone to jail, and at least 30 more will join them.
Glenn Adams runs a building supply business on Brooklyn Avenue in Lancaster. Houses are boarded up and the area is impoverished. It's an are that is no stranger to drug deals and prostitution.
"Lot of girls. Lot of drug dealers walking around, stopping traffic. A lot of stuff going on that people shouldn't see," Adams said.
Sheriff Barry Faile agreed, saying, "They shouldn't have to go outside and see a drug dealer on the street, or go down to the store and see a drug deal go down."
More than 70 people county-wide are being rounded up on drug charges ranging from selling crack and heroin to peddling a variety of pills. More than half are already in jail.
Deputies worked for six months to assemble pages of warrants and case information before blitzing the county to make the arrests.
Faile said some of the 70 people his deputies arrested are repeat offenders, but most are not.
He knows many will get out on bond, but said the courts will give higher-level drug dealers longer jail sentences, and that's who his office is really after.