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WEBVTT WIND AND HAIL.I WILL TALK MORE ABOUT THISDEVELOPING STORM SYSTEM, COMINGUP.MICHAEL: THANK YOU.NOW, TO THAT BREAKING NEWS OUTOF GREENVILLE COUNTY, APOTENTIAL LIFE-THREATENINGSUBSTANCE PUTTING THE HEALTH OFFIRST RESPONDERS AT RISK.CAROL: HOMELAND-SECURITYINVESTIGATORS ARE RIGHT NOW INGREER.THIS INVESTIGATION HAS SPANNEDFROM DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE TOGREER.MICHAEL: NEWS 4'S COREY DAVIS ISLIVE AND LOCAL THERE TONIGHT.COREY, WHAT HAVE WE FOUND OUT?COREY: GOOD EVENING, CAROL ANDMICHAEL.WE KNOW THERE WAS A CHEMICALFOUND.IT HAS BEEN TESTED.THEY HAD YET TO SAY EXACTLY WHATIT WAS.I WILL STEP OUT OF THE WAY ANDSHOW YOU.WE ARE ON CIRCLE GROVE COURT.INVESTIGATORS ARE STILL OUT HERERIGHT NOW, BUT IT IS MUCHQUIETER THAN IT WAS EARLIER.I WANT TO BRING IT A NEIGHBOR, AMOUNT DOWN THE STREET, JACOBNORIS.HE SAW SOMETHING AROUND 6:15,AND THEN IT REALLY GOT BUSY.WHAT DID YOU SEE AFTER THAT?JACOB: WELL, INITIALLY, EVERYONECAME IN AROUND 6:00, 6:15, ANDTHINGS SETTLED DOWN.NOBODY REALLY TOLD US ANYTHING,AND AFTER THAT, A SECOND WAVE OFPOLICE PRESENCE GAME, UNMARKEDCARS.COREY: HOW MANY?JACOB: INITIALLY, ABOUT 10 OR 12CARS, AND THEN IN THE THICK OF IT, THERE WITH HAZMAT, A MOBILECHEM LAB, AND A BIG VAN.COREY: A MAJOR INVESTIGATIONHAPPENING DOORS AWAY FROM YOU,WHAT IS THAT LIKE?JACOB: MOST OF US HAVE LIVEDHERE SINCE IT WAS BUILT, SINCE2008, SO A LOT OF LONG TIMERESIDENTS, AND WE PICKED THISBECAUSE IT IS A SAFENEIGHBORHOOD, KIND OF TUCKEDAWAY, AND MOST PEOPLE WOULD NOTKNOW IT IS HERE, DRIVING DOWNTHE ROAD, BUT THIS IS DEFINITELYTHE CRAZIEST THING I HAVE SEENIN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, FOR SURE.COREY: OK, LET'S TAKE A LOOK.THIS IS THE SOUTHBRIDGEAPARTMENT IN DOWNTOWN.THEY SAY THEY SAW HOMELANDINVESTIGATORS IN THAT AREA,ACROSS FROM THE GOVERNMENTOFFICES AND COUNTY SQUARE.A SPOKESPERSON OF THEINVESTIGATION TELL US THAT CREWSTESTED A CHEMICAL THEY FOUNDTHERE AT THE COMPLEX.THEY ARE NOT YET READY TO SAYWHAT IT IS, BUT THEY DO KNOWTHAT A METH LAB WAS NOT SET UP,AND THEY WERE THERE IN THEIRHAZMAT SUITS WERE THEREPROTECTION.THEY SAY IT COULD HAVE BEENDANGEROUS ONLY TO THEM IF THEYTOUCHED IT OR WERE IN A CONFINEDSPACE WITH THE CHEMICAL.LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT SOMEEXCLUSIVE VIDEO OF A WOMANGETTING HANDCUFFED AND TAKENINTO A GREENVILLE CITY POLICEPATROL CAR.WE ARE WORKING RIGHT NOW TOCONFIRM WITH INVESTIGATORSWHETHER HER BEING TAKEN INTOCUSTODY WAS CONNECTED TO THISCASE, SO RIGHT NOW, THIS ISDEFINITELY STIRRING UP SOMECONVERSATION IN BOTH AREAS, INGREER AND DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE.HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATORSTOLD ME THAT WHEN THAT DIVISIONIS INVOLVED, DRUGS MOST LIKELYWERE SMUGGLED INTO THE COUNTRY,AND RIGHT NOW, THEY CAN SAY FORSURE THAT THE DRUGS CAME FROMOUTSIDE SOUTH CAROLINA.

Advertisement Feds find deadly street drug in downtown Greenville; man, woman arrested, US Attorney says Agents searched South Ridge Apartments and home in Hammett Grove subdivision of Greer Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A woman and a man are facing federal drug charges after a deadly street drug known as Pink was found in downtown Greenville, according to U.S. Attorney Beth Drake. Theodore Vitaliy Khleborod, 28, and Ana Milena Barrero, 24, are charged with: -Possession with intent to distribute and distribution of U-47700, a Schedule I controlled substance. -Conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute U-47700 -Using the U.S. mail to facilitate a drug-trafficking crime. What is U-47700?: -U-47700 is a synthetic opioid. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration added U-47700 to its most restrictive list of controlled substances in 2016, calling it an imminent threat to public health. It has qualities similar to morphine, and it has been linked to dozens of deaths across the country, including several in North Carolina and South Carolina. -S.C. Law Enforcement Division spokesperson Thom Berry said in February that the dug, sometimes called Pink, has caused three deaths in Spartanburg, one in Lancaster Co. and “maybe” a death in Anderson. Berry said the drug has been found either independently or laced in other drugs in Berkeley County though no confirmed deaths have been reported to date, WCSC reported. Where the drugs were found: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox told WYFF News 4 that agents found a potentially life-threatening substance Wednesday night at the South Ridge Apartments on South Church Street in downtown Greenville. Cox said it was part of an ongoing federal investigation, and authorities have been "looking at those locations for a while." Witnesses at South Ridge reported seeing a large law enforcement presence and hazmat crews in full body suits around 6:30 p.m. A WYFF News 4 crew reported seeing Greenville police officers handcuff a woman and take her away from the scene in a patrol car. Cox said he didn't have information about whether the woman was arrested in connection to the case. Cox said whenever the ICE division of Homeland Security is involved, it usually indicates that the drugs were brought illegally into the country. He confirmed that the substance was brought in from outside South Carolina. Greer home also searched ICE Homeland Security investigators also searched a home on Circle Grove Court in the Hammett Grove subdivision of Greer shortly after 6:15 p.m., witnesses said. Jacob Morris, a neighbor, told WYFF News 4's Corey Davis that he saw more than two dozen emergency personnel and a hazmat team. He said he had "never seen anything like it" and was shocked because it's a "quiet neighborhood of cul-de-sacs." Crews left the scene shortly after 11:30 p.m. The case is being investigated by Special Agents with ICE-Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, the Greenville Police Department, and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.