A flood of fentanyl: How Augusta is responding

Published

9 months ago

July 8, 2025

A flood of fentanyl: How Augusta is responding

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – One of the most dangerous drugs continues to poison our area, stealing lives and destroying families.

In the month of June alone, investigators say they took nearly 60 pounds of drugs off the streets, including eight pounds of fentanyl.

In 2021, deputies recovered five pounds of fentanyl in the county–a number that’s grown by the year, with seven pounds in 2022 and 16 in 2023.

We are still waiting on recent data for 2024 and 2025, but the numbers we have support what law enforcement tells us – it’s not the first time they’ve seized fentanyl, and it will not be the last.

“It’s flooded,” said Investigator Erik Williams, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit. “Every street drug known has fentanyl in it now.”

During a drug bust last month, deputies say they seized enough fentanyl to potentially kill nearly 330,000 people — which is enough to endanger the entire population of Richmond County.

“Frightening as this is, you can get your cell phone and you can say how to buy fentanyl, and Chinese companies will come up. You can have it delivered to your house,” said Williams.

Williams says it’s a challenging substance to control.

“We start concentrating on the pills, then they come out with the powder. So now we gotta combat that. Now they have a liquid, so it’s constantly changing.”

He says even the smallest information can help execute busts like the ones we have seen in recent weeks.

For those struggling with fentanyl addiction, there are also options. Georgia Overdose Prevention is in Harrisburg every Tuesday.

Dolly Neese tells us she once needed those options.

“I was a homeless IV drug user, and I was out here in this very neighborhood, actually,” said Dolly Neese, harm reduction advocate for Georgia Overdose Prevention.

Now, you can find her in that same neighborhood, handing out Narcan, fentanyl test strips and narcan training.

Neese offers knowledge that not everyone has, so she’s here, reaching those on the path she once walked.

“We want to be that bridge for people who want to make changes or maybe want to make changes in the future, so that they do have those resources when they’re ready,” said Neese.

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From Augusta roots to Nighthawks leader: Nolan Belcher comes home

Published

4 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

From Augusta roots to Nighthawks leader: Nolan Belcher comes home

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)- Augusta University baseball is in a three-game series matchup against the University of North Georgia.

AU is currently down in the series 0-2 after a close loss Friday and a loss Saturday.

But we aren’t focusing on the Jags, we’re going to take a look at North Georgia’s head coach, Nolan Belcher.

He is an Augusta native who began his career at Greenbrier and Augusta Christian.

He won three state championships, which then led him to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

There he won back-to-back national championships and finished runner up in 2012.

His coaching career began after that where he eventually joined the Peach belt Confrence, coaching at USCA and GCSU.

Now in his first season as head coach for the Nighthawks, he is happy to come home and coach in front of his friends and family.

“I’m very fortunate that I got family that, one is still around and they can come watch me do what I love. And, they’ve shown me, nothing but support throughout my whole coaching career and even back on my playing dates are very thankful and appreciative for everything they’ve done for me.”

AU and UNG will have their final series match on Sunday.

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