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An investigation into LSD trafficking that started in Mocksville last year has led to arrests in what authorities call a national distribution network.

Interim Mocksville Police Chief Pat Reagan said the investigation started last July, when the department received a tip that a local teen-ager was selling LSD to local residents, some of whom were students at Davie High School.

The department started an undercover operation, and began buying LSD from Branden Chance Hall, a 16-year-old home schooled student from Mocksville. He was arrested after selling an officer 500 dosage units of the drug.

With the help of the federal Department of Homeland Security and a narcotics unit from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department, they began to investigate the source of the drugs.

It turned out that Marco Sevilla-Hernandez, 20, of Rural Hall, had been selling the drug to Hall. He took an undercover agent to meet his supplier, Christopher Dustin Owens, 24, of Lancaster, S.C., to make a purchase in Charlotte.

Lancaster’s vice unit started an investigation, and several more arrests were made.

At one point, Sevilla-Hernandez admitted to Mocksville police that he targeted middle and high school age students. The drug was sold on a piece of paper and on candies. He also said he knew Hall’s age before selling him LSD.

More than 1,257 doses of LSD were found at Owens’ residence; 2,902 at Sevilla-Hernandez’s residence. More than 750 doses were found at Hall’s resicence.

Last week, Ronald Williams, 33, of Loveland, Colo., was arrested there for his role in the LSD distribution network. He is being held in lieu of a $1 million bond.

Although beind held in Colorado, the Larimer County (Colo.) Sheriff’s Office said that all criminal charges will be handled in North Carolina. A warrant from her accuses him of selling 1,000 doses of the hallucinogenic drug. A search of his residence confirmed the distribution of LSD, the sheriff said.