The Polk County Sheriff’s Office recently discovered more than three pounds of marijuana during Operation Pill Sweep, an ongoing undercover illegal prescription medication operation.
On Friday, July 15, the sheriff’s office arrested David Warren, of 4600 Hwy. 9 South, Tryon and charged him with three counts of possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver a schedule VI controlled substance and two counts of maintaining a vehicle/dwelling/place for a controlled substance, both felonies, according to Polk County Sheriff Donald Hill.

Hill said the sheriff’s office discovered 3.2 pounds of marijuana owned by Warren at a few different addresses.
Warren’s arrest is one of several that have been made since May as a result of Operation Pill Sweep.
The sheriff’s office and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), with assistance from the U.S. Veteran’s Affairs Office and the sheriff’s offices of Buncombe County and Spartanburg County, S.C., conducted a nine-month undercover investigation intended to get illegal prescription pills out of Polk County.
Hill said officers purchased an estimated 2,000 illegal prescription pills from area residents during the investigation. The sheriff’s office originally had warrants for more than 20 suspects, with other arrests being made during the operation.
Officers have arrested suspects for marijuana, heroin, opium and cocaine as well as a variety of illegal prescription medications, including oxycodone, oxycontin, Percocet, Lortab, hydrocodone and Xanax. In addition, some suspects have been arrested on child abuse charges as a result of  illegal drug transactions being made in the presence of children.
Warren was issued a $10,000 bond, according to sheriff’s office reports.