North Carolina officials say almost 3,000 motorists were arrested for drunken driving during a two-week law enforcement campaign.

State Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett said Wednesday that 2,821 motorists were ticketed for driving while impaired between Aug. 15 and the three-day Labor Day weekend.

From Aug. 25-31, 14 DWI arrests were made in Edgecombe County.

The checkpoints and special patrols also helped officers catch 699 fugitives and recover 140 stolen vehicles. Law enforcement also reported they wrote close to 27,000 speeding and 9,000 seat belt violation tickets.

There were 386 traffic and criminal violations in Edgecombe the week before Labor Day. Most of them were for speeding, 109, with 51 tickets for driving with licensed revoked and 51 seat belt violation tickets.

North Carolina officials ramped up patrols in an effort to increase compliance with state laws. Last year, almost 500 North Carolinians died from alcohol-related crashes and more than 9,000 were severely injured.