The sign by the gas pumps advertised Western Union money transfers. Shelves of snacks and coolers of drinks crowded the tiny store. The owner had even placed a metal box outside to collect donated clothing.

But investigators from the Johnston County Sheriff's Office said most of the snacks had expired years ago. Despite showing an updated gas price - $3.27 a gallon - the pumps didn't work. And the grill hadn't served up burgers in years.

"The whole store thing was just a front," sheriff's spokeswoman Tammy Amaon said. "It was a place you could go get heroin, marijuana, guns or moonshine."

After a 10-month undercover investigation, sheriff's deputies, along with state and federal agents, raided the store. They seized guns and ammunition, drugs, liquor, moonshine and more than $12,000.

And they arrested the store's owner and lone employee, Felix A. Okafor, 50, of 2905 N.C. 97, Wendell. Okafor is facing a total of 53 drug charges, including multiple counts of possession with intent to sell Schedule VI drugs, selling and delivering marijuana, possession with intent to sell Schedule I drugs, selling and delivering heroin, selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school and trafficking in opium or heroin.

Okafor's store is next door to Benson Middle School on U.S. 301. Investigators said they don't think the store's activities were a threat to students.

After investigating tips about the store, detectives arranged in November for an informant to buy drugs from Okafor, according to search warrants released last week. On Nov. 8, the informant got 7 grams of marijuana for free as a way to begin the relationship, warrants state.

In the coming weeks, detectives sent the informant to buy increasing amounts of marijuana worth hundreds of dollars. On Dec. 6, the informant bought two guns for $400, warrants say. And on Dec. 9, the informant started buying harder drugs, spending thousands of dollars on heroin through the month of December.

Investigators then prepared for the raid on Jan. 11. They stationed surveillance teams outside the store and sent their informant in a final time. When he returned with more illegal purchases, warrants say, law enforcement stormed the business.

According to warrants, they tore through racks of snacks and found weapons, alcohol and drug paraphernalia hidden throughout the store. Okafor, warrants say, had a handgun behind the counter and in his pants pocket. About $4,100 in cash was found stashed in a light fixture. Digital scales were stored in a box labeled hot dog wrappers for the grill.

A search of the grill turned up more drugs and weapons, search warrants say. Detectives found another gun hidden in a 5-gallon bucket of popcorn kernels. And two white plastic bags atop the oven were filled with a "green leafy substance" - likely marijuana.

News of the raid came as a shock to other businesses on Benson's north side.

Around the corner at Wood Pharmacy, employees said they'd never visited the store but hadn't seen anything odd.

Willie Core, whose Benson TV repair shop is across the street from the Flying Eagle, said he'd bought snacks from Okafor on many occasions.

"It was really a surprise," Core said of the raid. "He was always a nice guy. I never got anything over there that was out of date."

Okafor, who's a native of Nigeria, is due in court Thursday. If found guilty, it would be his first drug conviction in North Carolina, court records show. In Johnston County, prosecutors dropped a 2009 charge of assault with intent to cause serious injury.

Investigators said Okafor had owned the Flying Eagle since 2007. The property's owner, Floyd McLamb of Benson, could not be reached for comment.