Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jun 2002
Source: Logan Banner, The (WV)
Copyright: 2002 The Logan Banner
Contact:  http://www.loganbanner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1640

JOHN LAW IS WATCHING YOU

Banner Viewpoint

Last year, residents of the Cora area came forward to ask for help.

First, they contacted The Logan Banner, about getting some coverage of just 
how bad the drug problem was in that community. Most people would not 
believe it without seeing it.

Shootings in broad daylight over drug rip-offs, crack addicts roaming 
around like zombies in a horror film and prostitutes crawling all over the 
place, like some 21st century version of Dante's Inferno.

Several residents and community activists in Cora then went to a a meeting 
of the Logan County Commission and asked for local and state assistance in 
cleaning up the community, which became a haven for drugs following the 
flight of elderly residents who once lived there. These community leaders 
also stepped up and sought out assistance from law enforcement.

The community of Cora should never have been allowed to degenerate into a 
drug haven. Somewhere in the past, somebody made a mistake and decided to 
try and keep the drug activity in the county there, which meant the good 
folks who lived there suffered. The drugs never stayed there.

Every day and night, expensive vehicles from other more wealthy parts of 
town ran in and out of Cora purchasing drugs, and fueling a crime problem 
all over the county.

Following an ongoing investigation involving videotape surveillance, 
undercover buys, assistance from cooperating individuals, the US Attorneys 
office announced that 23 people busted in Cora for drugs had entered guilty 
pleas.

The lesson is clear. If you are dealing in Cora, sooner or later you will 
be busted. Your clients are snitching you out. Some of your best customers 
are undercover cops who are building a case log on you, and you are 
probably starring in a surveillance video. John Law is watching.
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MAP posted-by: Ariel