Deputies: Largest Marijuana Bust in Sumter County

Columbia, S.C. (WOLO)– Deputies say a husband and wife are charged in one of the largest drug busts in Sumter County history.

A tip to law enforcement saying when and where a large load of marijuana would be trafficked was enough information for Sumter County to find a matching vehicle hidden in a neighbor’s yard.

“Normally, when you see traffickers trafficking this amount. They look just as normal as you and I would be traveling,” Anthony Dennis, a sheriff with Sumter County said.

Deputies say they found 63 lbs or $180 thousand worth of marijuana in the vehicle. That’s the largest drug bust Sheriff Dennis can remember.

“In my 35 years, this is the largest marijuana bust, let me tell you,” Dennis said.

According to sheriff’s, Robert Hendrix and his wife Marianne Hendrix of Dalzell were arrested Wednesday in connection to the large amount of marijuana seized. Sumter Sheriff’s just made one more arrest, their son Michael Anthony Hendrix of Rembert turned himself in without incident. Sheriff’s says this isn’t the end of drug trafficking in their area.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg of what has been brought here in Sumter county by these traffickers,” Dennis said.

Law enforcement believes the three were coming back from the state of Washington and say if they weren’t able to catch the three, the marijuana would’ve been on their streets within a week. The three arrested are charged with trafficking marijuana which is a class E Felony in the state. They could get up to 10 years in prison and pay a heavy fine.

“Let this be a warning to those trafficking drugs in Sumter County,” Dennis said.