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GREENSBORO — Nearly $20 million in illegal drugs were removed from Guilford County streets last year by the county’s three largest law enforcement agencies.

Data released this week from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and Greensboro and High Point police also show that officers seized nearly $5 million in cash and property from drug dealers in 2009.

“Taking this amount of drugs and drug money off the street makes a large impact on the drug dealers in our area,” Sheriff BJ Barnes said about the $12.3 million in narcotics his deputies recovered last year.

The drug most often seen by the sheriff’s office was marijuana; deputies recovered more than 800,000 grams, with a street value of more than $8 million.

The second-most-common seizure was cocaine — with more than 39,000 grams and a street value of $3.95 million.

Cocaine was the most common drug in Greensboro; more than 15,000 grams was recovered with a value of $1.5 million.

That’s followed by marijuana seizures totaling more than $1.4 million.

In addition to other common drugs that plagued the area, such as ecstasy, heroin and methamphetamine, officers also saw a fair share of unlawful sales of amphetamines and prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and methadone.

In general, officers said, drug seizures remained steady for 2009 compared to previous years, and the amounts aren’t uncommon given the county’s population and location.

“We have two interstates that join almost at the center of our city, and we have a lot of narcotics coming through our area,” said Lt. Craig McMinn of the Greensboro Police Department.

“The reason the drugs are here is because of the demand; the size of the town or city determines the demand.”

Sgt. John Christy of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said many of the seizures his office made were along major highways as officers stopped drug couriers and seized shipments moving through the area.

Some of the recovered drug money went back to the departments as forfeitures from the Department of Justice.

The departments routinely use the money to buy equipment such as computers, vehicles, bullet-proof vests and K-9 officers. They also spend it on drug-prevention programs.

In 2009, Guilford County received more than $2.5 million and High Point received more than $235,000.

Greensboro police received $820,000 in forfeitures since July 2008.

“This is money that the taxpayer did not pay,” Barnes said.

“We will continue to penalize the drug dealer by taking their goods and money for the benefit of our citizens.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com