Congressman McDowell pledges to fight fentanyl crisis in North Carolina after losing his brother to an overdose.
SALISBURY, N.C. — The fentanyl crisis tearing through North Carolina isn’t just a public safety threat — it’s personal. At a high-level roundtable this week in Salisbury, that reality hit home as lawmakers, prosecutors, and grieving families joined forces to demand action.
Congressman Addison McDowell, who convened the meeting, opened with a message that carried more weight than politics.
“Getting it off our streets is just the first step,” McDowell said. “Prosecuting those who profit from fentanyl is a major step as well.”
For McDowell, the fight is more than a policy priority — it’s a personal mission. His younger brother died from a fentanyl overdose, a tragedy that inspired his run for Congress.
“We want to stop the deaths that come with this poison,” he told the room, surrounded by district attorneys, sheriffs, and special agents.
Among the voices calling for change was Barbara Walsh, founder of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina. She clutched a photo of her daughter, Sophia, as she told the story no parent should have to repeat.
“Sophia was 24. She went to visit friends in Watauga County. On her way out of town, she stopped for water,” Walsh said. “That bottle, unknown to her, had just eight nanograms of fentanyl. It was enough to kill her.”
Her story silenced the room — a chilling reminder that behind the data are names, faces, and futures cut short.
“It’s more than a number. Every photo is just one ripple in a massive pond of fentanyl deaths,” Walsh said.
Local sheriffs echoed her urgency, pointing to limited resources and the growing reach of drug trafficking networks.
“What I’ve seen in three years as sheriff — this is a local resource issue,” said Rowan County Sheriff Travis Allen.
Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers added, “We can’t fight this alone. We have to work with partners — every agency, every county.”
The roundtable, titled “Prosecuting the Poison,” ended with a commitment to tougher laws, better coordination, and faster action.
For leaders like McDowell and families like the Walsh’s’, that commitment can’t come soon enough.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, help is available. Contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is cracking down on a popular texting app that he says is helping fuel the fentanyl epidemic.
In a Monday announcement, Jackson and five other attorneys general said they’ve sent a letter to the leaders of the app “WeChat” for allegedly playing a role in fentanyl money laundering.
“We wanna hit the cartels where it hurts,” Jackson told WECT. “And where it hurts is this money laundering, this digital pipeline that has opened up.”
The Chinese-based app, with over a billion users around the world and thousands in North Carolina, is designed to support encrypted communication between people, and also has an integrated payment system. But criminals are using that payment system, Jackson said, to launder drug money.
WeChat is at the center of a triangle of criminal activity between the United States, China, and cartels, Jackson said. The cartels move fentanyl into the U.S., and the sales money then goes to China. Laundered money and goods then move “discreetly” from China back to the cartels, Jackson said, with communication and money transfers often going through WeChat.
This graphic shows the ‘pipeline’ by which fentanyl is brought into the US and payments are funneled through Chinese money launderers back to the cartels.(NC DOJ)
“The motive for most crime is money. If you want to reduce the crime, you reduce the money. The way we reduce the money here is focusing on WeChat,” he said.
The attorney general said he’s given WeChat 30 days to identify potential solutions to the issue. The app has “yet to adequately address the exploitation of its platform by criminal actors,” the announcement said.
A comment request from a WeChat representative wasn’t immediately returned.
“We want them to do enough to change the reputation that WeChat has, because right now, WeChat has a reputation as a safe haven for facilitating money laundering,” Jackson said.
The fentanyl crisis has affected communities around the state and country; with roughly six per day, overdoses from the drug are now the leading cause of death for people under the age of 45 in North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Department of Justice.
Monday’s announcement also cited several recent investigations and criminal cases that involved WeChat being used in fentanyl-related money laundering:
“The 2021 conviction of Xizhi Li, who managed an international criminal network using WeChat to coordinate bulk cash transfers between Chinese banks and drug cartels.
Operation Chem Capture (2023), in which eight companies and 12 individuals were indicted for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals, with transactions coordinated through WeChat.
Collaboration between Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and Chinese laundering networks, which regularly use WeChat to facilitate cash pickups, currency swaps, and repatriation of drug proceeds.
A recent 2024 federal indictment in South Carolina, charging three defendants with using WeChat to communicate in order to launder proceeds from fentanyl sales as part of an international conspiracy.”
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced a bipartisan initiative Monday targeting Chinese tech giant WeChat for allegedly facilitating money laundering connected to fentanyl trafficking in the United States.
“WeChat is essentially helping to bankroll the fentanyl epidemic. This must stop,” Jackson said during the announcement.
The effort, joined by five other state attorneys general including South Carolina’s Alan Wilson, accuses WeChat of inadequate measures to combat illegal financial transactions that support drug trafficking.
North and South Carolina attorneys general launch bipartisan effort to tackle fentanyl trafficking and money laundering in Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced a bipartisan initiative Monday targeting Chinese tech giant WeChat for allegedly facilitating money laundering connected to fentanyl trafficking in the United States.
“WeChat is essentially helping to bankroll the fentanyl epidemic. This must stop,” Jackson said during the announcement.
The effort, joined by five other state attorneys general, including South Carolina’s Alan Wilson, accuses WeChat of inadequate measures to combat illegal financial transactions that support drug trafficking.
“Evidence strongly suggests that WeChat has allowed itself to become an enormous digital pipeline for money laundering that fuels the fentanyl trade,” Jackson said.
The coalition has issued a demand letter giving the company 30 days to detail specific actions it’s taking to address what officials describe as rampant money laundering on the platform.
“We need answers. We need them now,” Wilson said.
“If they don’t comply with our request, we believe that we have a range of options for escalation,” Jackson said. “For a number of reasons, we’re choosing not to detail what those options are, but we strongly encourage them to respond.”
The initiative aims to disrupt the financial networks supporting fentanyl distribution, which officials believe will help reduce the flow of the deadly drug into American communities, including Charlotte, with CMPD Lt. Robert Sprague, who works in investigations, also present for the press briefing in support.
“While CMPD’s Vice unit and others within our organization do an excellent job investigating and seizing these operations, this type of activity occurs across the country and internationally,” Lt. Sprague said, “often passing through surrounding jurisdictions before ultimately reaching Charlotte.”
Sophia Walsh
Barbara Walsh, representing the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, is among the hundreds of thousands of people estimated to be impacted by the fentanyl crisis in the United States. She says she lost her daughter, Sophia, an Appalachian State University graduate, in 2021 after Sophia drank from a water bottle laced with fentanyl.
“You don’t really recover from this, as a family,” Walsh said. “Siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, husbands, wives. It is forever, and if we could stop one person from dying, which means one family won’t be traumatized and deal with this for the rest of their life.”
She expressed hope that the attorneys general’s efforts would prevent other families from experiencing similar tragedies.
“If we can disrupt the money laundering, you can disrupt the distribution of deadly fentanyl in this state,” Walsh said.
This announcement comes on the heels of North Carolina Governor Josh Stein’s recent visit to Charlotte, where he pushed for funding for a fentanyl control unit. During a news conference, Stein was joined by CMPD officials and individuals impacted by the fentanyl crisis, including Debbie Dalton. Dalton, who lost her son Hunter to fentanyl in 2016, shared her heartbreaking story, emphasizing the deadly and unpredictable nature of the drug.
“It took hardly a minute for my 6’3″, very healthy son to have a heart attack,” Dalton said. “That’s the thing with fentanyl. You don’t see it coming, but it’s coming. It’s relentless, and it’s killing our young people, and nobody is safe from it.”
The proposed fentanyl control unit, which Stein has advocated for since his tenure as attorney general in 2023, would include drug agents and prosecutors dedicated to investigating drug rings statewide and stopping the flow of narcotics into North Carolina communities. Despite Stein’s persistent efforts, the unit has not been included in the final state budget, including this year’s Senate budget proposal.
Stein urged the legislature to consider the urgency of the situation, noting that the House is currently deliberating its budget. He highlighted the need for additional resources, stating that the proposed unit would cost a couple of million dollars annually, a sum he believes is within the General Assembly’s capacity. While the Senate’s budget plan includes funding for 10 additional prosecutors and five legal assistants for Mecklenburg County, marking the first significant staffing increase for the DA’s office in nearly 15 years, Stein stressed the need for more focused efforts on fentanyl.
At the recent meeting, CMPD officials reported receiving 600 overdose calls so far in 2025, an 11% increase from the same period in 2024. This statistic underscores the growing urgency to address the fentanyl crisis and the importance of the upcoming bipartisan effort announced by Attorneys General Jackson and Wilson.
The proposed fentanyl control unit would include drug agents and prosecutors dedicated to investigating drug rings and stopping the flow of narcotics into the state.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein was in Charlotte on Thursday to push for funding for a fentanyl control unit.
Stein was joined by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officials and people impacted by the fentanyl crisis during the news conference. People like Debbie Dalton.
“It took hardly a minute for my 6’3″, very healthy son to have a heart attack,” Dalton said, “That’s the thing with fentanyl. You don’t see it coming, but it’s coming. It’s relentless, and it’s killing our young people, and nobody is safe from it.”
Dalton lost her son, Hunter, in 2016. She has since worked to prevent other families from dealing with the same loss, and she says Stein’s effort is a part of that.
The proposed fentanyl control unit would include drug agents and prosecutors dedicated to investigating drug rings statewide. It would also be tasked with stopping the flow of narcotics into North Carolina communities.
Stein has been pushing for this unit since 2023 when he was the state’s attorney general. However, it’s never made it into the final state budget.
“I encourage you to talk to the legislature,” Stein said. “The House is considering its budget as we speak, and so, it’s not a coincidence we’re having this discussion right now because I want them to understand the urgency.”
He said it would cost a couple million a year, which Stein said is fully within the General Assembly’s ability. The Senate’s budget plan did include funding for 10 additional prosecutors and five legal assistants for Mecklenburg County. If approved, it would mark the first significant increase in staffing for the DA’s office in nearly 15 years — a period during which the county’s population has grown by approximately 20%.
Stein said this is an important effort, but they still need more law enforcement resources focused on fentanyl.
“I want there to be more local prosecutors, but I just know how local ADAs are, and they are way overwhelmed,” Stein said. “These can be focused on the issue of fentanyl.”
At Thursday’s meeting, CMPD officials said it has received 600 overdose calls so far in 2025, an 11% increase from this time in 2024.
LENOIR, N.C. — A woman was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the 2023 death of her 7-month-old child, according to Lenoir Police this week.
Paige Nicole Blue, 27, was taken into custody on April 30 following her extradition from Lee County, Florida. Blue faces charges of murder and felony child abuse and is being held without bond.
The arrest comes after a lengthy investigation that began on March 16, 2023, when emergency responders were called to a home on Forrest Hill Park Place in Lenoir for an infant in cardiac arrest. Despite life-saving efforts, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
The infant died from fentanyl toxicity, police said. A lethal dose of the drug was found in the child’s system.
Blue is scheduled for her first court appearance in Caldwell County District Court on Thursday. Police say the investigation is ongoing and more charges are expected.
The Lenoir Police Department is asking anyone with information related to this case to contact them at (828) 757-2100 or Lenoir/Caldwell County Crime Stoppers at (828) 758-8300.
If your loved one was impacted by this incident, WCNC Charlotte hopes to make this process less painful with our More Than A Number initiative. With your help, we want to share who your loved one was with our viewers in North Carolina and South Carolina. When you’re ready, fill out the form below or send us photos, memories and other details about them to desk@wcnc.com.
CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT)- The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with the District Attorney’s Office (District 4) continue to try to stay ahead of the fentanyl crisis and enforce the law to save lives.
Earlier this week the offices helped convict Hugh Crandall Willis Jr. of Gloucester, N.C. with Death by Distribution of Fentanyl, Sale and Delivery of Fentanyl and Felonious Possession of Fentanyl. A jury found him guilty of his role in the death of his girlfriend, Bethany JoAlison Styron.
According to Sheriff Asa Buck III, Carteret County has had three overdose deaths this year with more than 150 overdose cases in the past five years. However, he also says the county has seen a significant drop over that time period.
“Three is still too many,” Buck said. “One is too many, but it’s nowhere near the numbers of what we were seeing back in 2020, 20, 21, 22, and then in 23 and 24, the numbers began to drop.”
Buck says his office and the District Attorney’s are continuing to be proactive to the issue. The county has convicted more than 10 people with death by distribution and charged more than 30 since the General Assembly passed the statute in 2019.
“We investigate every drug overdose death just like a homicide and we have been for many years,” Buck said.
The sheriff, district attorney and others from the district attorney’s office were recently given the “Save Lives Together” award for their work in holding fentanyl traffickers accountable.
“When people are doing things and it’s causing people to die, that’s not something that you just sit back and say, well, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Buck said. “You make that a priority and you certainly try to do the very best you can to investigate those criminal offenses and hold people accountable when and where you can through the court system.”
More than 50 community members gathered at the Beaufort Train Depot Saturday to discuss the deadly impact of fentanyl in Carteret County. During the forum, Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, and other local officials received the Save Lives Together Award for their ongoing fight against fentanyl trafficking.
Families at the event shared personal stories about losing loved ones to fentanyl, highlighting the community’s urgent fight against the deadly drug.
One of those was Barbara Walsh who lost her Daughter to the deadly drug.
“It’s important for the families who lost a loved one to know that what their community is doing to keep someone else from dying,” said Walsh.
And In Carteret County alone, fentanyl overdoses have claimed 168 lives from 2013 through 2023.
According to Carteret County Sherriff Asa Buck a trend decreasing over the years.
“These cases are not different someone committed an act they provided a drug to someone caused them to lose their life and we investigate that just like a homicide and we prosecute those offenders just like we would if they would have killed somebody with a knife or a gun, ” said Sheriff Asa Buck
Read the original article and watch the video on the WCNC website.
Alex Horne, 27, is charged with death by distribution in connection to the death of Rodney Anthony.
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Police have arrested a suspect after a man died from an opioid overdose in April 2024.
Alex Horne, 27, is charged with death by distribution. He is accused of supplying drugs to Rodney Anthony, who died of an opioid overdose.
Anthony died on Fir Avenue on April 20, 2024, according to the Kannapolis Police Department. It took nearly a year after Anthony’s death to identify Horne as the suspect.
Horne was arrested on Tuesday. He is being held with a $750,000 bond in Cabarrus County jail. His next court date is April 9.
