NCPD officers arrested a 31-year-old man Friday following a surveillance operation targeting suspected drug activity at an apartment complex on Spruill Avenue, in the Chicora-Cherokee community.

Officers from the North Charleston Police Department’s Gang Intervention Team, along with the State Law Enforcement Division’s Gang Unit, were monitoring the Chicora Arms Apartments after receiving multiple citizen complaints about narcotics activity. The investigation focused on Brandon Derrick Brown of North Charleston, who was suspected of selling drugs from the area.

Around 2:30 p.m., officers reported seeing Brown engage in several suspected hand-to-hand transactions. They said he appeared to retrieve narcotics from a trash can before walking between Florida Avenue and Spruill Avenue to distribute them to others.

After observing multiple exchanges, officers detained Brown and several individuals nearby. They reported smelling marijuana in the area and found two foil-wrapped packages on the ground. Inside were substances that field-tested as more than 108 grams of marijuana, over six grams of cocaine, and more than five grams of cocaine base.

Brown was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine, and Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Base. He was taken to the Al Cannon Detention Center.

While being processed at the jail, officers said a strip search revealed additional suspected cocaine base—more than two grams—which fell from Brown’s groin area. As a result, he was also charged with Possession of Contraband in a Secure Facility.