Border Belt Drug Task Force investigators and Robeson County Sheriff’s Office SWAT operators executed a search warrant on Thursday 12 November 2026 at a home on the 400 block of Stanton Road, southeast of Maxton, North Carolina.[1] Tommy Dale Barnes, 40, of Maxton, surrendered to investigators the following afternoon.[2]

Investigators seized cocaine, Suboxone strips, prescription pills, marijuana, a firearm and drug paraphernalia during the search.[2] The sheriff’s office did not specify the quantities of drugs seized.[2]

Barnes was charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana and with maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances.[2] The other charges name trafficking in opium or heroin, offences involving cocaine and Schedule II and Schedule III controlled substances, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.[1] The sheriff’s office described Barnes as having prior drug convictions.[2]

Barnes is being held at the Robeson County Detention Center under a $1.1 million secured bond.[2] Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said Barnes apparently believed his surrender to the task force was an opportunity to make light of a very serious situation on social media.[2] The sheriff’s office said it does not set bond amounts, which a judicial official decides under North Carolina law, and that Barnes is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.[1]