Working with 10 other agencies, Wendell police led a sobriety checkpoint in Martin Center that netted 140 charges, nearly all of them traffic-related.

Wendell Police Sgt. Bobby Langston said the checkpoint, at the intersection of Wendell Boulevard and Rolesville Road also netted one minor drug charge.

Saturday night’s effort involved between 40 and 50 law enforcement officers from Knightdale, Zebulon, Rolesville, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Raleigh, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, the N.C. Highway Patrol, Alcohol Law Enforcement and the N.C. Department of Corrections.

Of the citations issued, Langston said 10 were for driving while impaired.

“I think we got more than we thought we would,” Langston said. “We take away that we need to do more of this to let the citizens know we are out there and that if they drive when they’ve been drinking they will be arrested.”

Between five and 10 motorists tried to evade Saturday night’s checkpoint, but Langston said each of those motorists was stopped by an apprehension vehicle to determine why they left the scene.

Saturday night’s checkpoint marks the first time in three years such a large-scale operation has been carried out in Wendell.

Langston said Wendell police officers help out with similar efforts in other parts of the county about four times a year.

The checkpoint comes just ahead of the Independence Day holiday.

In 2006, according to Langston, 27 percent of all motor vehicle wrecks during the holiday weekend involved at least one driver who was legally impaired.

The checkpoint is part of a beefed-up effort statewide to crack down on drunk-driving.