Durham police arrested eight people, including a 17-year-old, after raiding a home in the 2500 block of South Roxboro Street on Wednesday and seizing nine firearms, cocaine, marijuana and cash. Five of the recovered guns had been reported stolen, and investigators say the operation was launched in response to recent shootings and a homicide in August.
According to FOX8 WGHP, Durham police obtained the search warrant after investigations into multiple homicides, aggravated assaults and weapons violations tied to that stretch of South Roxboro Street. J. Roberts of the Durham Police Department said the probable cause for the warrant grew directly out of that pattern of violence in the area. The department said in a news release that the enforcement operation was meant to address recent shootings and a homicide, removing what Roberts described as dangerous firearms and narcotics from the neighborhood.
The address is not new to Durham's crime blotter. Hoodline previously reported that a man was found dead with gunshot wounds in a nearby housing complex in the 2500 block of South Roxboro Street back in February, part of what was already a documented hotspot for gun violence along the corridor.
Nine Guns, Cocaine and a Teen Among Those Charged
Police say they seized nine firearms total, including an AK-47-style Draco pistol manufactured in Romania and an AR-15 rifle chambered in .300 AAC Blackout, per the report. At least two of the recovered pistols were fitted with optic devices resembling illuminated red-dot sights, and officers also recovered a large amount of ammunition along with various firearm accessories.
Alongside the weapons haul, the report notes that police seized 14.6 grams of cocaine, 158.4 grams of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and $219 in cash. Nautyca Gore, 26, and Jaquan Gore, 26, were each charged with felony conspiracy, manufacture of cocaine, maintaining a dwelling for controlled-substance sales and possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, with Nautyca Gore facing additional charges of simple possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance and possession of a stolen firearm.
Tomon Parker, 22, was charged with possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and simple possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance. Robert Lloyd, 43, was charged with felony conspiracy and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, while Dezarion Cousin, 19, faced felony conspiracy and possession of a stolen firearm charges. A 17-year-old male juvenile had petitions filed against him for possession with intent to sell or deliver a Schedule VI controlled substance and felony conspiracy.
Two other adults were also taken into custody during the operation. Jayden Crowder, 18, was charged with felony conspiracy and was additionally served with 25 existing arrest warrants, according to the same account. Anthony Rand, 55, was also charged with felony conspiracy. All of the arrested suspects are from Durham.
Statutes Carry Steep Prison Exposure
The stolen-firearm charges against Gore, Cousin and Parker fall under North Carolina General Statute § 14-72, which classifies possessing or receiving a stolen firearm as a Class H felony regardless of the weapon's dollar value, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. Parker and Lloyd's felon-in-possession charges fall under General Statute § 14-415.1, a Class G felony punishable by up to 47 months in state prison, a law that enforces constructive possession rules meaning physical contact with a weapon is not required if a suspect is shown to have controlled the area where it was found.
The maintaining-a-dwelling charges against the Gores are based on General Statute § 90-108(a)(7), which makes it a Class I felony to intentionally keep or maintain a home used for storing or selling controlled substances. And the felony conspiracy counts brought against all seven adult suspects rest on General Statute § 14-2.4, which penalizes conspiracy to commit a felony one class lower than the underlying offense itself, requiring prosecutors to prove an agreement between two or more people to carry out an unlawful act.
Part of a Broader Citywide Crackdown
The South Roxboro Street bust follows a pattern of targeted raids Durham law enforcement has carried out this year against addresses and venues tied to gun violence. In July, state Alcohol Law Enforcement agents and Durham police raided an unlicensed venue on Ellis Road, arresting more than 30 people and seizing 11 firearms along with illegal narcotics, an operation Hoodline covered at the time. A separate August raid on an alleged speakeasy netted six arrests along with cocaine, methamphetamine and five more guns.
Those operations come as Durham grapples with a documented rise in violent crime. Durham recorded 13 homicides in the first five months of 2026, a 44% increase over the nine homicides logged during the same period in 2025, according to The News & Observer. Juvenile involvement in violent crime has also drawn attention from department officials, with Durham Police Department data showing total criminal charges filed against juveniles under 18 rising 12% in 2025 to 595 charges, including four juvenile homicides, per WRAL.
The picture outside city limits looks different. Durham County Sheriff's Office mid-year statistics showed an 8.7% overall decrease in major crimes across unincorporated county areas for the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, a drop credited in part to multi-agency intelligence sharing between Durham and neighboring jurisdictions.
Whether any of the nine firearms recovered in the South Roxboro Street raid connect to the August homicide or other unsolved Durham shootings remains an open question, as ballistics testing on the weapons had not been reported as complete. The FOX8 WGHP report, authored by Rodney Overton, did not indicate when results might be available.
