LANCASTER COUNTY, N.C. — Investigators with the Lancaster County Multijurisdictional Narcotics Task Force arrested a Kershaw man on Fork Hill Road on Friday after a bicycle traffic stop led to the recovery of cash and illegal drugs.
Claude Andrew Shields, 65, was taken into custody and booked into the Lancaster County Detention Center on multiple drug trafficking charges.
Task force investigators were conducting surveillance Friday morning following up on drug complaints in the Kershaw area. Officers spotted Shields riding a bicycle away from a location under investigation and stopped him for failing to obey traffic rules for bicyclists.
After stopping and stepping off his bicycle, Shields walked behind a bush before approaching the officer. Shields consented to a search and an investigator found approximately $1,500 in cash in his pocket.
A second investigator searched behind the bush where Shields had walked and discovered a bag. The bag contained 7.59 grams of suspected fentanyl, 47.7 grams of suspected methamphetamine and 32.65 grams of suspected cocaine, the sheriff said.
Authorities charged Shields with trafficking 4 to 14 grams of fentanyl, trafficking 28 to 100 grams of methamphetamine and trafficking 28 to 100 grams of cocaine. Warrants were served at the detention center, where a magistrate denied bond on Saturday morning. Shields remains held at the facility.
Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile noted that drug seizures involving bicycles are uncommon for the task force.
“Most of our large seizures of illegal drugs come from houses or cars and this bicycle case was a little unusual,” Faile said. “Our investigators are trained to expect the unexpected and this time their instincts proved true. They removed several thousand dollars worth of dangerous drugs from circulation and made a big arrest in the Kershaw area.”
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