Overdose victims lead to dismantling of alleged Orange County drug trafficking ring

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Three Triangle law enforcement agencies say they busted a heroin and fentanyl trafficking ring by collecting evidence tied to people who overdosed on the opioid drugs.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Carrboro and Chapel Hill police departments arrested six people who face charges related to the distribution of heroin and fentanyl.

"This is the first time the Sheriff's Office and the Carrboro Police Department, through the Coordinated Opioid Overdose Response Effort (COORE), have effectively identified, targeted, and disrupted a heroin distribution network based on forensic evidence from both fatal and non-fatal overdoses," said Sheriff Charles Blackwood in a statement. "This approach has proven to be effective and will continue to be employed. Overdose deaths are taken very seriously by my Office."

Investigators began their hunt for the drug traffickers after a 2018 overdose death in Carrboro. They say other overdoses in Carrboro and Chapel Hill linked the victims to the people arrested.

"While these arrests may not make the families and friends of those lost to overdoses feel any better, we hope that this joint effort will create some closure and make our community a little bit safer," said Carrboro Police Chief Walter Horton.

Authorities arrested the following people:

• Robert Ramsey Green II

• Mitchell Lucas

• Leroy Lunceford

• Ryan Meggison

• Dylan Mescall

• Christopher Tootle

The investigation is continuing and additional charges are expected. Anyone with information is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff's Office at (919) 245-2900 or the Carrboro Police Department at (919) 918-7397