04/05/2022
🚨 JOINT OPERATION LEADS TO DRUG SEIZURES, TWO ARRESTS 🚨
Two local men have been arrested on 18 drug charges each, following a joint operation by law enforcement officers with HCPD and Brunswick County Sheriff's Office, NC.
On Friday, April 29, 2022, BCSO agents conducted a traffic stop on a Dodge Ram truck on Highway 17 near Thomasboro Road in North Carolina. Hassan Benhamedane, 42, of Myrtle Beach, was the driver, and Andrew Morton, 38, also of Myrtle Beach, was the passenger.
The following items were seized during the traffic stop:
- 157.9 grams of methamphetamine
- 44.3 grams of he**in
- 6.5 grams of ma*****na
- 10.2 grams of crack co***ne
- 11.6 grams of pressed fentanyl pills
- 24 dosage units of alprazolam
- 5 amphetamine pills
- 2 unknown pills
Following the traffic stop, a search warrant was conducted at the home of Benhamedane on Old Bryan Road outside of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
The following items were seized from Benhamedane’s home:
- 1,438.5 grams of ma*****na
- 224.7 grams of co***ne
- 37.1 grams of he**in
- 40.2 grams of crack co***ne
- 180.76 grams of methamphetamine
- More than 100 grams of Xanax and pressed fentanyl
- More than $5,000 in US currency
Benhamedane and Morton remain in custody in Brunswick County as of May 2, 2022.
Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office and HCPD are proud of the collaborative effort shown in the investigation: “This sends a strong message to those trafficking drugs across the NC/SC border—there are no jurisdictional boundaries and law enforcement agencies across county lines, and state lines are working to keep them out of our communities.”