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The Â鶹´«Ã½ Department of Public Safety said officers seized methamphetamine, fentanyl, Xanax, marijuana, cocaine, suboxone and two handguns. The following people were charged:

• Roderick Jatavian Caldwell, 30, of Morganton, was served on Feb. 5 with outstanding warrants for larceny and failure to appear.
• Tyler Dwayne South, 34, of Morganton, was charged Feb. 11 with possession of a schedule II controlled substance and a probation violation.
• Ashley Michelle Scott, 41, of Morganton, was charged Feb. 28 with possession of a schedule VI controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance in jail.
• Robin Beam Surratt, 60, of Morganton, was charged Feb. 28 with probation violation and failure to appear on a felony.
• Winter Malee Fox, 30, of Morganton, was charged Jan. 24 with possession of a schedule II controlled substance.
• Brandon Andrew Perry, 39, of Lenoir, was charged Jan. 28 with possession of a schedule II controlled substance.

The department said the number of calls for assistance at the motel has increased since Hurricane Helene when the hotel started accepting recipients of FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Program.

Ashley Durrance, who works at the Super 8 on South Sterling Street in Morganton, said the people charged were receiving assistance from FEMA.

FEMA said it directly pays hotels and motels for the cost of a room and taxes. Applicants must pay for any other costs such as laundry, room service, parking, telephone, food, transportation or other services offered.

AJ Jinwala, owner of the motel on South Sterling Street in Morganton, said he wasn’t aware of the problems the motel was having immediately after Hurricane Helene because he was out of the country.

Now, though, he said the hotel is down to only eight recipients of FEMA’s transitional sheltering program. “We thought we were helping these people who needed some accommodations,� Jinwala said.

He said many rooms have been damaged by people who were staying at the motel with FEMA assistance. He said he had to rip the carpet out of one of the rooms, a TV was busted and multiple linens were stolen. He said another problem they’ve seen is people bringing in multiple guests who weren’t on the room agreement.

“FEMA tried to help, they did, but they helped the wrong people,� Ashley Durrance said.

Officers also cited drivers of vehicles leaving the motel for driving while license revoked, open container, failure to register a vehicle, expired tag, altered tag, no insurance, registration violation, fictitious tag, open title and giving, lending or borrowing a tag, the department said.

FEMA said it does not comment on police investigations.

Anyone who suspects fraud against FEMA or within one of its programs can report it by email to StopFEMAFraud@fema.dhs.gov, by faxing information to 202-212-4926 or writing the FEMA Fraud and Internal Investigation Division, 400 C St. SW Mail Stop 3005, Washington, DC 20472-3005.