-from news14.com-

By Becky Bereiter

RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — Halloween came early this year at the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, but instead of a bag full of sweets, officers rounded up a sizeable number of suspected drug dealers. “If they’re selling drugs in Randolph County, we’re going to try our best to arrest them,” said Sheriff Maynard Reid.

It’s all part of “Operation Trick or Treat,” an effort to pull 58 known dealers off the streets, as well as what they’re pushing. The Vice-Narcotics Unit conducts two to three big operations like this a year, pulling in help from neighboring police departments and the Drug Enforcement Agency. “We’ve arrested three so far this morning,” said Lt. Keith Owenby, Randolph County Sheriff’s Office. Owenby says he gets an adrenaline rush out of the missions, but as with any situation where drugs are involved, so is danger. “The one we went to this morning, there was a big dog there and the lady said, ‘How’d you get in past that dog?’ and we said, ‘We didn’t really even see one when we came in,’ but it can get exciting,” said Owenby. What is also exciting for Sheriff Reid is knowing that with every arrest, the crime rate in his county is potentially going down. “Drugs probably in my estimate cause 80 percent of the crime where you have these people that are hooked on drugs, breaking in and stealing to get money or whatever to supply their drug habit,” said Reid. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, “Operation Trick or Treat” had made 28 out of its projected 58 arrests. Officers say the dealers that are not accounted for right now may very well turn themselves in during the next couple of days.