Federal, state and local law enforcement officials on Monday highlighted the sentencing of a Henderson man in a case they say illustrates increased efforts to crack down on fentanyl and heroin trafficking.
A federal judge this month sentenced Alexander “Snow” Trowbridge, 41, to about 27 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin. He also pleaded guilty to two firearm-possession charges.
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A lawyer for Trowbridge didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Officials have credited increased enforcement with a decrease in overdoses. North Carolina recorded 4,960 opioid-related emergency department visits in 2025, WRAL previously reported. That was down 21% from 2024. Visits have fallen almost by half, 48%, since 2023.
The Henderson convictions followed an investigation launched in 2019 into a drug trafficking organization that obtained large quantities of heroin and fentanyl from New Jersey and sold the drugs throughout Vance, Durham, Warren, Wake, Wilson, Franklin and Granville counties, prosecutors said during a news conference Monday.
The prosecution resulted from the work of a federal task force focused on interagency collaboration to combat criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling and trafficking rings, prosecutors said. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the DEA; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; Henderson police; and the Vance County Sheriff's Office.
"This investigation is another example of what can be accomplished when local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies work together toward a common mission,” Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow said in a statement. “Partnerships make our communities safer and send a clear message to drug traffickers: there is no jurisdictional boundary that will protect you from our unified law enforcement efforts."
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration launched the Fentanyl-Free America campaign in December, an effort to increase enforcement of anti-trafficking laws. That same month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating illicit fentanyl and its core chemicals as weapons of mass destruction and directing federal agencies to intensify efforts against fentanyl trafficking.
Daniel Tilton, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA's Raleigh office, said Monday that the Fentanyl-Free America campaign is about “protecting our communities and preventing fentanyl from reaching those who can be harmed by it.”
DEA officials said strong partnerships and coordinated enforcement are critical to disrupting the flow of fentanyl. North Carolina lawmakers have also worked to increase penalties.
“The legislature over the last two sessions has, and beyond that, made it a priority to make this a more serious crime,” District Attorney Mike Waters — whose district includes Person, Granville, Vance, Franklin and Warren counties — said Monday.
In 2025, the General Assembly passed a law increasing penalties for trafficking and dealing fentanyl. Gov. Josh Stein signed the law, saying traffickers should be held accountable for “peddling this poison to our communities.”
Lauren Horsch, a spokeswoman for Senate Republicans, said Monday that lawmakers remain committed to going after drug traffickers.
Tougher state penalties are giving prosecutors more options to pursue serious fentanyl cases in state court, said Ellis Boyle, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
"Drug trafficking organizations can no longer hide in Eastern North Carolina," Boyle said in a statement. "We shut down this network, and we are coming for the rest to clean these predators off our streets."
In addition to enforcement efforts, North Carolina is spending millions on treatment and overdose prevention.
The current state budget directs more than $20 million toward opioid treatment through state agencies. It also provides funding for sheriffs' offices to establish, expand or maintain medication-assisted treatment programs for opioid and alcohol addiction in jails. Counties with higher opioid death and hospitalization rates are among those prioritized for grants.