IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — A traffic stop that led to a chase in Iredell County on Monday ended with a man facing a slew of charges. The sheriff said the suspect had enough fentanyl to threaten hundreds of thousands of lives.
A post shared on the Iredell County Sheriff's Office Facebook page shed light on what happened on Monday, Aug. 29. Deputies stopped a sedan with South Carolina plates for traffic violations. They said after getting enough evidence to warrant a search of the car, deputies found a concealed handgun and vacuum-packed bags of marijuana.
But deputies said the driver, identified as Muhammad Zakariyya Abdur-Rahim, resisted arrest and assaulted two deputies. One of the deputies reportedly tried using a stun gun against Abdur-Rahim, but he was able to get back into the car and drive away.
The chase went down on the southbound lanes of Interstate 77, and the sheriff's office said more deputies responded and used stop sticks. However, Abdur-Rahim was able to avoid them and kept driving onto Highway 21 South.
At that point, deputies said Abdur-Rahim pulled into a parking lot, only to exit it and ram into a patrol car. He was able to get to the Iredell County Health Department's parking lot and started running after his car was disabled, but was eventually taken into custody.
While Abdur-Rahim was being detained, the sheriff's office said they kept searching his car. Inside, they found a compressed brick of fentanyl that weighed about 1.4 pounds.
The street value is around $125,000, but Sheriff Darren Campbell said another six-figure number was just as alarming: He said that brick of fentanyl was enough to possibly kill 250,000 people, citing research from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
"That is more people than the current population of Iredell County," Campbell said in the Facebook post from the sheriff's office. "The way he interacted with the deputies, the way he drove his vehicle into our deputy’s vehicle, his erratic driving on the busy roads, the way he ran after wrecking his vehicle, the amount of drugs he had in his possession, and his prior criminal history shows this man has no regard for the safety of Iredell County."
For reference, the U.S. Census Bureau reports Iredell County's population as of 2020 is just under 187,000. Neighboring Alexander County's population is just more than 36,000.
By Sheriff Campbell's estimation, the brick of fentanyl was enough to potentially kill an amount of people equivalent to two counties.
Unfortunately, federal prosecutors say the lethal drug is showing up more and more in the Carolinas.
"It is so severe that we're getting calls from sheriffs, from police chiefs, from federal law enforcement, asking us to prioritize and help and we are, but unfortunately it's everywhere,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Daniels said.
Daniels explained that the drug's high potency is what makes it so lethal. According to the DEA, "just two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose."
"The addiction is severe, the overdose impact is huge," Daniels added.
In fact, NCDHHS reported in March 2022 that an average of nine North Carolinians died each day from a drug overdose in 2020. More than 70% of those deaths likely involved fentanyl, according to the agency.
NCDHHS expects 2021 overdose numbers to be even higher.
Abdur-Rahim's criminal history, as shared by the sheriff's office, includes being a felon in possession of a firearm, felony criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of marijuana, and 2nd-degree obstructing governmental administration.
He now faces the following felony charges from Monday's chase:
- Assault with a deadly weapon on a government official
- Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
- Trafficking of a Schedule II Controlled Substance
- Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance with intent to sell or deliver
- Possession of marijuana
- Maintaining a vehicle for the sale or use of a controlled substance
- Possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver
- Felling to elude arrest
He also faces two misdemeanor charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and carrying a concealed gun.
A secured bond for Abdur-Rahim was set at $500,000. He remains in jail as of Thursday, Sept. 1.