400 officers from North Carolina to South Carolina join forces to end drug trafficking

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WPDE) — From North Carolina to South Carolina, officials with the drug trafficking task force from agencies in both states, are linking arms to end drug trafficking in the Carolinas.

Four hundred officers from jurisdictions in both North and South Carolina are in Myrtle Beach until Friday training at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center to form one of the largest drug trafficking task forces in the country.

"Drugs and drug defendants cross state lines every day-- we see it in this area, Little River, Tabor City, and the Charlotte area," said Sherri Lydon, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina.

This is why officials from both the local and federal levels are working together with one mission.

"To inform our communities and the drug traffickers that law enforcement can and will cross state lines as well," said Lydon.

This means the jurisdiction lines are erased and 400 hundred officers between both states will work as one.

"When we can work with our partners in other states to cut off the sources of supply we can really have a much bigger impact than just taking down individual drug dealers that are here in myrtle beach it can have a much broader impact on the residents here and those who come to visit," said Everett McMillian, Assistant U.S. Attorney out of Florence, South Carolina.

Officials say within the last year, in Myrtle Beach, they’ve convicted 60 defendants of drug trafficking crimes, and in North Carolina officials have prosecuted more than 500.

"The more options we have the more effective we are without wasting money or wasting time and that’s what its all about, building relationships to solve a problem," said Chief Deputy Solicitor of the 15th Circuit, Scott Hixon.

As drug traffickers become more sophisticated with their workflow, law enforcement at the local and federal level have to switch up the way they manage drug trafficking.

"A couple years ago, you’d be really surprised how kind of limited law enforcement is to solve sophisticated criminal problems," said Hixon.

"We are erasing the district lines, we’re erasing the state lines to make sure there is no place for them to hide in either of these two states," said Bobby Higdon, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock said on Wednesday, ending drug trafficking here at home is a shared responsibility and she's proud of the work that has already been done to end it.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes reports drug trafficking is a 36 trillion dollar industry worldwide.