Charlotte police continue enforcement near hotel that was raided by FBI

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says they’re keeping up with their mission to crack down on crime in north Charlotte after FBI agents raided a hotel last month.

Channel 9 Crime Reporter Hunter Sáenz learned more about the efforts being made by those officers to clean up the Sugar Creek corridor. But some say it’s going to take more than that.

CMPD says they’re doing their part after the raid on the Garden Inn, which resulted in multiple arrests for firearms and drug charges. In the last week alone, CMPD says they’ve made 26 traffic stops, arrested 10 people, and gave out numerous citations in that area.

It’s welcome news to activist Robert Dawkins.

“CMPD’s strategy is if we’re here every day, until we make it to where we’re interfering with [drug dealers’] customers, your way to resupply yourself with the drugs, then sooner or later you’re going to have to say maybe I’m going to go somewhere else,” Dawkins said.

There’s been a longtime call by nearby residents and neighborhoods for the city to get a grip on this corridor. Many told us last month’s raid at the Garden Inn, which investigators described as a “farmer’s market for drugs” and led by the security team employed at the motel, was a good step.

But Dawkins says the underlying causes of crime need to be handled, too.

“If you don’t have anywhere to live in Charlotte, you go live in the motels, and if you’re staying in the motels and you can’t afford the motel, then that leads you to do other things to be able to afford to stay,” Dawkins said.

It’s a slippery slope that Dawkins says more social services and investments can solve.

“I think right now, it’s happening, it’s just in the stick phase, and then hopefully you’ll see the carrot part come in behind it,” Dawkins said.

CMPD says Operation Nite Shade will continue in the area. The city of Charlotte has also approved millions of dollars in projects to revitalize the Sugar Creek corridor. Those plans are underway.