William Erston McArthur
ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has have charged a fugitive of the law with trafficking fentanyl and crack cocaine.
William Erston McArthur, 50, of Rockingham, is charged with trafficking opium or heroin, felony possession of methamphetamine, possession of Sch. II and VI substances, along with many other drug charges.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, investigators with the Community Impact Team, Special Response Team and federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant on a residence on Ellen Road.
McArthur was entered as a fugitive by the U.S. Marshal Service for a federal probation violation from New Jersey.
According to the RCSO, SRT members attempted to call McArthur out of the house, and he refused to exit the residence. After nearly two hours, members put CS gas in the residence. McArthur continued to refuse to exit the residence. A short time later, SRT members entered the residence and could not locate McArthur at the time. SRT members continued to search and located McArthur hiding under the residence in a crawl space. McArthur was then taken into custody.
Investigators observed numerous items related to narcotics distribution while they were in the residence. A second search warrant was applied for and approved.
300 grams of fentanyl, 93 grams of crack cocaine, 3.7 grams of meth and 6 grams of marijuana were seized from the residence.
McArthur was processed into the Richmond County Jail under a $500,000 secure bond. He did not receive a bond for the federal probation violation.
