BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) -- Federal authorities have indicted 18 Beaufort-area residents in a drug ring accused of selling cocaine and prescription pills.

The Beaufort Gazette reports an indictment naming the defendants was unsealed Thursday.

A day earlier, more than half of those changed had been arrested by Beaufort County deputies and federal officers. The newspaper reported nearly all of those arrested had prior records.

The indictment says the defendants had conspired to distribute oxycodone and cocaine since July of last year.

------