Historic drug bust sheds light on Anti-Crime Task Force’s impact in NC community

By Lauren Brigman

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    BUNCOMBE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man in the largest drug bust of its kind in county history.

But, Sheriff Quentin Miller says the work is not over.

He says fentanyl is still a big problem in the area, but this arrest has likely saved countless lives that could have been lost to an overdose.

“When I first started this, we were talking about crack, then we went to heroin and opiates,” the sheriff said. “And fentanyl is two or three times more deadly than any of those previous drugs that have been out there. That’s what makes this so big, is the lives we feel we’ve possibly saved by doing this bust.”

A six-month investigation led to the arrest of Theodore Russell Finley, of Asheville.

He’s in jail under a $200,000 secured bond.

Deputies with the department’s Anti-Crime Task Force (BCAT) seized 2.7 pounds of Fentanyl, 1.9 pounds of Crack Cocaine, 1.6 pounds of powder Cocaine, $78,926 in U.S. currency and two pistols, one of which was stolen.

Finley faces multiple charges including level three drug trafficking, which each carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 225 months in prison, officials say.

Sheriff Miller says his office is using a two-part approach to combat drug trafficking: Focusing efforts on arresting high-level offenders and helping detainees start the road to recovery from addiction through a program at the jail.

Below are statistics provided by Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

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