Five pounds of weed and ‘high-powered weapons’ seized in bust, SC sheriff says

A home in the shadow of the Orangeburg County Law Enforcement Complex was recently searched and a man was arrested after drugs, guns and cash were among the items seized, according to the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.

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Kenneth Clark, a 37-year-old Orangeburg resident, was taken into custody Aug. 21 after investigators searched his home in the 900 block of Graham Street, the sheriff’s office said Monday in a news release. The home is less than a mile from the law enforcement headquarters.

Clark was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute ecstasy, according to the release. A woman at the residence was charged with simple possession of marijuana, the sheriff’s office said.

During the search, investigators found 5 pounds of marijuana, 65 ecstasy pills, more than $5,500 in cash, an AK-platform rifle, two shotguns, a Glock pistol and ammunition for each weapon, according to the release. Clark was not charged with any crimes related to the weapons.

“We are talking about a drug operation running in the heart of a neighborhood, in plain view of this agency, with families living on every side of it,” Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said in the release. “Children were sleeping a few feet from a stockpile of narcotics and high-powered weapons. That is what makes this one different, and that is why we would not let it go.”

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The search was the culmination of a long-term narcotics investigation, according to the release. Information about when it began, or how Clark was identified was not available.

Clark was released from the county jail after posting a $20,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said. He’s scheduled to return to court on Oct. 13, Orangeburg County judicial records show.

“Families want to live and play in safe areas and not have to live by someone dealing drugs,” Ravenell said.