Pubdate: Fri, 02 Mar 2001
Source: Buffalo News (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The Buffalo News
Contact:  One News Plaza, P.O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY, 14240
Fax: 716-856-5150
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Author: Lou Michel

3 DEATHS SUGGEST FIGHT FOR DRUG SUPREMACY, POLICE SAY

The execution-style shooting of two men and a woman in a Bailey Avenue 
apartment provides the strongest evidence to date of an ongoing battle for 
Buffalo's illegal drug trade, police say.

A vacuum in the hierarchy of city drug dealers in recent years has resulted 
in out-of-town drug dealers moving in and trying to carve out turfs, 
narcotics investigators say.

The investigators believe Jamaican drug dealers from the New York City area 
are sending members of their gangs to take control of the local drug trade.

"This new element from New York City operates differently. They have no 
qualms about using violence. This type of execution occurs commonly in New 
York City," a Buffalo narcotics investigator said.

Late last week when a dispute among drug dealers ended, three people were 
dead - all shot in the head.

The slayings occurred in the Bailey Avenue apartment rented by Fearon E. 
Williams, 28, a native of the Caribbean island of Jamaica who has lived in 
the United States since 1992.

Also slain were Patrick Cranston, 26, who lived in Jamaica and was visiting 
Williams, his cousin; and Donnette McClary, Williams' 32-year-old girlfriend.

Williams was considered a big-time drug dealer, police said.

"During a search of the crime scene, we found two hidden semi-automatic 
handguns that were loaded," said Joseph Riga, chief of the Homicide Bureau. 
"We also found cocaine packaging material."

In identifying and finding suspects, police have not had an easy job.

"This is an extremely difficult case. We haven't been able to locate any 
witnesses, and although we suspect it was drug-related, we don't have 
specific motives," Riga said.

One possible motive under consideration is that the homicides were 
committed by other Jamaican drug dealers looking to eliminate competition, 
according to investigators.

Two years ago, Homicide Detective Sgt. Anthony Costantino and Detective Ray 
Masecchia questioned Williams in the murder of a Jamaican suspected of 
being involved in drug trafficking, Riga said.

The detectives, according to the chief, believed Williams had information 
on the 1998 slaying of Berris Henry, who was shot several times in a car on 
Dunlop Avenue.

Henry, police said, was a drug kingpin.

A year ago, Williams was among six people arrested in a raid at 2312 Main 
St. Police confiscated 2 pounds of marijuana, $10,985 in cash and a 9 mm 
handgun.

Detectives say it is possible that the triple homicide, which occurred 
sometime before Sunday in the apartment at 1891 Bailey, may be only the 
beginning of increased violence.

Only two months into the new year, the number of Buffalo homicides has hit 
11, which is more than double the number for the same period last year.

"There were a number of prosecutions in recent years against high-level 
drug dealers, and that created a gap, and we had a lull," the narcotics 
investigator said.

The out-of-town drug dealers, he added, are viewed as managers who come in 
and set up a drug-distribution network for their associates.

"Once they get rooted in, there's bloodshed, but they're replaced just as 
easily," the investigator said.

Jamaican drug dealers have traditionally been known to sell marijuana, but 
that has changed because of higher profit margins with cocaine sales.

A pound of marijuana, police said, has a street value of $600 to $800; a 
kilogram of cocaine, which is the equivalent of 2.2 pounds, has the 
potential to sell for $20,000 or more, depending on how many times it is 
thinned out with filler material.

Narcotics detectives have primarily focused on street-level dealers, 
according to Capt. Mark D. Morgan, commander of the Narcotics and Vice Bureau.

"A lot of our time has been spent responding to quality-of-life crimes 
involving street-level dealers, which is important, but you are not going 
to see this level of player out there," Morgan said of Williams.

Morgan added that upper-echelon drug dealers are often elusive and can be 
arrested only after lengthy, in-depth investigations.

"They are nomadic, and you're not going to notice them unless you're on a 
long-term case," Morgan said.
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