Alamance County sheriff details drug seizures, gang activity and staffing shortfalls in annual briefing

Sheriff Terry Johnson told the Alamance County Board of Commissioners at the board's May meeting that his office responded to roughly 89,018 calls in 2024 and is confronting increased drug trafficking, gang activity and staffing shortages.

The sheriff said the county's patrol and special units are stretched: deputies drove about 1,132,000 miles last year, the office handled about 4,972 traffic stops and patrol answered, on average, 243.8 calls per day in 2024. Johnson said his office logged 29 vehicle pursuits during 2024 and had already recorded 15 high‑speed pursuits in 2025.

"If they run from an officer first time, they go run from the officer second time, somebody's gonna get killed," Sheriff Johnson said, describing a five‑minute/ five‑mile limit his office uses to end pursuits and the use of pursuit‑intervention training to reduce harm.

Why it matters: the sheriff framed Alamance County as an attractive route for traffickers because of I‑85 and I‑40, saying cartels use secondary routes to move drugs once they ‘drop a load’ in the region. He described coordinated work with federal partners — DEA, FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals and task forces — and said those partnerships have produced seizures and federal prosecutions.

Key details and evidence: Johnson said the county's ANNET narcotics enforcement team and federal task forces seized multiple kilograms of cocaine and other drugs during enforcement operations; a handout shown during the presentation listed one seizure as 18,734 grams (about 16.7 kg) of cocaine. He also described recent vehicle stops that produced firearms, including several weapons converted to fully automatic. "We seized 6 firearms that were possessed illegally either by convicted felons or used in another crime," he said of one recent weekend operation.

The sheriff highlighted gang investigations and arrests tied to a local group he called the "Bridal Life" gang (described in the presentation as an offshoot associated with larger gang networks), and he named MS‑13, Bloods, and a Venezuelan group identified in local enforcement as among active networks. He warned that the county must sustain pressure on gangs and cartels to prevent rising violence.

Technology and units: Johnson described expanded use of drones, saying the office now has 11 drones (including thermal and tactical models) and 25 Federal Aviation Administration‑certified pilots; he cited more than 260 drone missions and roughly 790 flights. He said drones have been used for searches, surveillance and to locate missing persons. The sheriff also described specialized units including an intelligence division, ANNET (the narcotics enforcement team), an Invictus unit for online child‑exploitation investigations, and a multiagency SRT (special response team).

Detention, ICE and court security: Johnson said the average daily jail population was 348 inmates and that the detention facility was near its intended capacity (he cited a design number "around 376"). He reported about 45 total vacancies across his office, including 32 detention officer vacancies and a number of sworn positions. The sheriff said the county frequently houses ICE detainees on short stays and that per‑diem payments have offset costs; he and county staff said a per‑diem rate is being renegotiated and that county staff will present details to the board.

Staffing and budgets: Johnson said some court security positions remain unfunded, and he requested continued attention from the commission to retention, recruitment and funding for deputies and detention staff. He credited recent county pay changes for improving recruitment but said some candidates fail background checks and are not hired.

Public safety context and next steps: Commissioners asked for more detail about 911 consolidation and a joint software plan that county staff said will be brought forward next month as an interlocal agreement to replace two dispatch systems with a single shared platform. The sheriff also announced upcoming community events and enforcement press conferences with Burlington Police Department.

Ending: The sheriff concluded by reiterating the need for continued investment in deputies and specialized units to keep pace with trafficking and gang activity, noting that federal task‑force partnerships and technology such as drones have expanded investigative capacity but that personnel shortages remain a critical operational issue.