Pubdate: Sat, 24 Aug 2002
Source: Foster's Daily Democrat (NH)
Copyright: 2002 Geo. J. Foster Co.
Contact:  http://www.fosters.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/160

LAW ENFORCEMENT AVERTED TRAGEDY AND SAVED LIVES

We've received no small measure of reassurance this week that law 
enforcement officials at all levels of government do, indeed, have a far 
reach into the shadowy places of the Seacoast community.

Had they not had their eyes open and ears to the ground, the heinous plan 
allegedly hatched by three men might have unfolded at a small pharmacy in 
Portsmouth. Who knows how many innocent people might have died because of 
the lust for OxyContin and other prescription drugs for sale on our streets?

Because of the exceptional work of the Portsmouth Police Department's 
Special Investigation Unit, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the 
federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms, a bloodbath planned for 
Tuesday was averted and several lives were saved.

Charles Veillette, 32, of Portsmouth and Jay Howard, 24, and his brother, 
Jeff Howard, 21, - neither of whom has a fixed address - were arrested 
Monday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit 
robbery and conspiracy to commit theft.

In connection with the case, authorities have seized a number of 
semiautomatic handguns and fully automatic submachine guns equipped with 
silencers, several bulletproof vests, and black tactical clothing with masks.

Police say the trio intended to set the crime in motion with a carjacking 
in which the driver would be killed. Then they allegedly planned to rob 
Green's Drug Store on Lafayette Road and execute everyone in the pharmacy 
and any bystanders who may have gotten in their way.

The madness and senselessness of this plot makes us sick. That calculated 
deeds like these could be unleashed in a quiet business in Portsmouth is 
enough to turn one's blood cold, and we wonder how anyone is capable of 
such a devaluation of human life.

The outpouring from customers of Green's Drug Store toward pharmacist and 
store owner Richard Philbrook, who might have been in harm's way on 
Tuesday, shows how our sense of community sustains us when bad things happen.

OxyContin is capable of alleviating suffering for people who otherwise, 
during the final days of their lives, would be in great pain. The irony is 
that OxyContin also is capable of causing great suffering because of those 
who seek to steal the drug and abuse it.

The nettlesome problem of handling these strictly regulated medications 
remains because there are those who choose to live outside the law and will 
stop at nothing to steal them.

No doubt, the Seacoast community owes a debt of gratitude to all the law 
enforcement officers who worked to break this case before a single shot 
could be fired.
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MAP posted-by: Beth