A five-day effort targeting smugglers which ended Friday collected more than $230,000 in cash, illegal drugs and guns.

The lion's share of the money, according to Halifax County Sheriff Tyree Davis, occurred on the first day of the operation — March 17 — when a Michigan man driving an Ram pickup was stopped for speeding on Interstate 95 within two hours of starting the campaign.

Omar Alzokari, of Hamtramck, Michigan, was stopped for speeding in the southbound lane of Interstate 95 near the 155 mile marker.

Agents determined criminal activity was possibly afoot and a canine sniff was conducted.

That search led to the seizure of approximately 28.5 pounds of narcotics and $110,930 in United States currency.

He faces charges of felony possession of marijuana, felony possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, felony possession with intent to sell and deliver schedule IV, felony maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for controlled substances and speeding.

According to the state court calendar, Alzokari has a September 25 court date.

Over the course of the week there were numerous traffic stops conducted that led to the seizure of illegal narcotics, proceeds of selling narcotics, and weapons related crimes. There were also six wanted individuals arrested and served outstanding warrants that ranged from state level charges to federal charges to a person being wanted by the U.S. Marshal’s for federal-related crimes.

In total the operation netted the seizure of approximately 55 pounds of various illegal narcotics from marijuana to cocaine, $230,339 in cash and one illegal firearm. There were seven people charged with crimes related to illegal weapon and drug possession counts.

“For the past five days some may have noticed a more than usual amount of law enforcement presence while traveling along Interstate 95 in Halifax and Northampton counties,” Davis said. “This increased presence was due to a joint operation planned by the Halifax Regional Drug and Gang Task Force and hosted by the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office that enabled the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, Northampton County Sheriff’s Office and Roanoke Rapids Police Department to join forces for the week and work toward targeting drug trafficking organizations transporting illegal drugs and illegal guns through the Roanoke Valley on Interstate 95.”

Drug trafficking encompasses much more than just the drug itself — it is things such as proceeds of selling drugs, firearms, gangs and wanted persons, he said. “In the past the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office has been invited to participate in other operations like this but to our knowledge Halifax never hosted an event of this size specifically targeting drug interdiction on Interstate 95.”

Halifax Regional Drug and Gang Task Force Lieutenant S. Casey took on the responsibility of organizing the operation and ensuring the proper resources were in place to make the event run as smoothly as possible.

The operation started Monday March 17 and ended Friday. Between the three agencies participating there were an average of 10 to 12 officers patrolling I-95 from the Northampton County/Virginia state line to the Halifax/Nash County line each day.

The officers participating ranged from drug agents from both sheriff’s offices, the HCSO’s newly formed Community Action Team, Roanoke Rapids Police Department Traffic Unit, patrol officers from the police department and members of the criminal investigations divisions from both the Halifax County and Northampton County sheriff’s offices.

“The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office and Roanoke Rapids Police Department for participating in the operation and also the North Carolina Department of Revenue, United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Nash County Sheriff’s Office for lending assistance when requested throughout the week,” Davis said.