Siler City Police Department carries out major drug investigations

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SILER CITY — The Siler City Police Department, in partnership with North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, conducted two search and seizure operations last month, producing almost 200 charges for drug sale and other crimes.

On May 5, SCPD officers and ALE agents “executed several search warrants for the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics, weapons violations and violations of probation and parole,” SCPD Chief Mike Wagner said in a press release.

The months-long investigation produced 173 charges against 12 people, including seven for illegal alcohol sales, 91 drug charges, six miscellaneous charges and 69 felony charges. Seven firearms were also seized, according to the press release.

On the same day, Siler City Police Dept., ALE agents and the North Carolina Highway Patrol served a search warrant on the home at 812 North Chatham Ave. Siler City. Officers located and seized 61.2 grams of marijuana, 6.7 grams of cocaine, four firearms, U.S. currency and “multiple items of drug paraphernalia indicating drug usage and manufacturing,” a press release said.

Harry Raymond Watson, 47, of Siler City, was arrested in connection with the investigation’s findings and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession with intent to manufacture, sell, and/or deliver cocaine; and possession with intent to manufacture, sell, and/or deliver marijuana. Watson received a $5,000 secured bond.

Police are still investigating Watson, Wagner said in the release, and more charges are possible. Lt. Jason Boyd, commander with the Criminal Investigations Division, is leading the SCPD’s investigation. Wagner did not respond the News + Record’s request for additional comments before press time.

Both operations were part of the department’s ongoing effort to crack down on Siler City’s notorious crime scene, and they represent the latest in a history of collaboration between SCPD and ALE. Shortly before the pandemic, the two agencies partnered for an eight-hour sting, known as Operation Wolfpack, which led to the arrests or citations of 39 people on 58 charges and yielded several counts of underage alcohol possession, underage tobacco purchase, alcohol sales to an underage person, possession of and intent to sell marijuana and possession of cocaine, according to the police department’s report.

Since arriving in Siler City two years ago, Wagner has lobbied for additional resources to better address the town’s criminal activity, which surpasses that seen in other Chatham municipalities. At the town’s budget retreat in February, Wagner cited startling statistics in his call for added funds. In the two major divisions of crime — violent and property-related — Siler City’s trends depicted a troubling landscape.

“In both those categories, we’re well elevated above both the state and national level,” Wagner said in the meeting. “We’ve had 67 violent crimes (between Nov. 2019 and Oct. 2020) in Siler City, and they are from homicide to rape, sexual assault and shootings.”

There had also been 325 property crimes during the same period.

Siler City’s board of commissioners were alarmed by Wagner’s presentationˆ and vowed to shore up his department. In the proposed budget for fiscal year 2021-22, which the board is likely to adopt this month, the police department is awarded four new positions: three police officers and one evidence technician.

“Priority was set by the board to focus on the needs within the police department,” Town Manager Roy Lynch previously told the News + Record. Only eight new positions, including the police department’s four, are represented in the proposed budget for all of the town’s departments. SCPD is slated to receive $813,000 to fund the new jobs and other needs.

Other Chatham agencies have likewise sought increased budget allocations to expand law enforcement operations in the next year. Chatham County government’s proposed budget calls for multiple expansions for the Public Safety CIT, which includes departments that respond to emergencies, crimes and other safety hazards. The budget recommends 11 new detention officer positions to “address improvements needed in cell block monitoring” and return officers currently assigned to the county’s detention center to its Law Enforcement Division — a $655,688 cost.

If approved, the budget will also add a Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement ($39,697) and various staff positions to respond to increased demands in emergency communications.

Pittsboro’s proposed budget calls for a new deputy chief of police.

Reporter D. Lars Dolder can be reached at dldolder@chathamnr.com and on Twitter @dldolder.