U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson, announced Monday the results of Operation Spring Cleaning, a three-month enforcement surge in the Charlotte region.
Speaking in uptown Charlotte, flanked by tables displaying cocaine, fentanyl and firearms, Ferguson said his office considers the operation a success. Authorities federally charged 56 defendants, arrested 157 fugitives and seized 110 firearms and nearly 255 kilograms of drugs.
“Our goal here was, before those summer months come, when kids get out of school, our young people get recruited to a life of crime,” Ferguson said. “Before that comes, we want to get the worst of the worst off the streets.”
Ferguson attributed the operation’s results to collaboration among state, local and federal agencies.
The announcement comes less than a week after Ferguson and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said they shut down a west Charlotte hotel that had been a major hub for drugs and guns.