In the early morning hours of June 8, 2025, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit, with the assistance of the Organized Retail Crime Unit and SWAT, executed a search warrant on Silver Spur Lane (off Lovell Road).

This operation is part of KCSO’s ongoing commitment to the 313 Initiative, targeting Detroit-based drug trafficking organizations that are flooding our communities with deadly narcotics.

📦 Inside the home, investigators seized:
• Over 2.5 pounds of pure fentanyl
• Cutting agents
• 2 handguns
• More than $10,000 in U.S. currency

💰 Based on street-level calculations, that’s over 4,500 doses of fentanyl—valued at more than $500,000—taken off our streets.

🚨 Arrested and charged with multiple felony offenses:
• Asher Merritt – Detroit, MI
• Derek Bryant – Detroit, MI
• Joshawn Wilson – Detroit, MI
• Jason Washington – Benton Hill, MI
• Taylor Fair-Beck – Knoxville, TN

One of the suspects summed it up with:
“Am I in trouble?”
Yes. You are.

This is just another example of our continued effort to protect Knox County and keep deadly poison out of our community.