Decatur County police display part of the prescription pills haul they say was being sold illegally by Betty Jean Jordan (inset)
Decatur County police display part of the prescription pills haul they say was being sold illegally by Betty Jean Jordan (inset) Decatur County police

A 75-year-old woman dubbed 'Kingpin Granny' was raided by police who seized over 1,000 prescription pills and more than $12,000 in cash.

Undercover cops searched the home of Betty Jean Jordan at her Parsons address, central Tennessee, to find hundreds of prescription drugs and opioids that they said she was selling illegally.

The haul included morphine, oxycodone and xanex, said Decatur County police. A large amount of cash and other assets were also recovered from the address.

"If you wanted strong painkillers and things like that, she was the go to person," Decatur County Sheriff Keith Byrd told broadcaster WREG.

Jordan was charged with six felony drugs charges including two counts of possession of a prescription drug with intent to sell, and evading arrest, even though the suspects uses a walking frame and wheelchair.

Sheriff Byrd admitted that Jordan was under the radar of law enforcement authorities and may have been operating for decades.

He said: "If it's been going on for 20 years. That would put her in her fifties when she started doing this."

Jordan was booked into Decatur County jail on 6 February and has since been released on a $50,000 bond. She is understood to undergoing treatment for an unknown condition at a local hospital.

Police said their investigation is ongoing, with additional arrests expected.

US drug agencies say the rising use of opioids such as fentanyl, crystal meth, morphine and their many offshoots continues to skyrocket.

Nationally, 33,000 Americans died of an overdose in 2015, more than double the number 10 years ago. Experts fear the number of drug deaths when last year's data is calculated will be higher.

Last July, the White House's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released an interim report asking President Donald Trump to declare the opioid epidemic a national health emergency.