A woman in South Carolina was arrested on drugs and weapons charges after police found her allegedly carrying almost a kilogram of fentanyl, according to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Last month, police stopped Katelin Lee Abernathy’s car after she was put under surveillance by the narcotics unit and other agencies who investigated her for selling drugs. During the traffic stop, a K-9 unit alerted officers to search Abernathy’s vehicle. Officers reportedly discovered 941 grams of fentanyl, 20 grams of methamphetamine, a Glock pistol, and an SKS rifle.
Police also searched a storage unit used by the 25-year-old and allegedly found 531 more grams of fentanyl, three handguns, and four long guns. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the fentanyl that police allegedly found in Abernathy's car was enough to kill over 700,000 people.
Abernathy has been charged with trafficking fentanyl, trafficking meth, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and is being held without bond.
The DEA has reported that more than 46.4 million fentanyl pills and 6,900 pounds of fentanyl powder have been removed from the streets in 2023, which was responsible for 204 million deaths.
In July, Carlos Macci, the elderly drug dealer who was arrested in connection to the death of The Wire actor Michael K. Williams was sentenced to two and half years in prison. The actor died in 2021 after taking heroin laced with fentanyl he purchased from Macci's Brooklyn crew.
Prosecutors claimed Macci and three other defendants kept selling heroin mixed with fentanyl after Williams succumbed to a fatal overdose.
