Pubdate: Tue, 05 Mar 2002
Source: Sanford Herald, The (NC)
Copyright: The Sanford Herald 2002
Contact:  http://www.sanfordherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1577
Author: Sue Thackeray

LOCAL DRUG TRADE IS FLOURISHING

Despite 'Newer' Drugs Like Ecstasy And Oxycontin, Law Officials Say 
Marijuana And Crack Cocaine Are The Most Popular In Central Carolina

SANFORD - Though narcotics officers in the area are seeing more new drugs 
in the area, crack cocaine seems to remain the drug of choice for local 
addicts.

"Crack cocaine is still number one, but we've seen a big increase in 
methamphetamines, ecstasy and Oxycontin," said Capt. Dan Kehagias, who 
heads up the City/County Drug Unit.

Crack is very popular in lower income areas. It offers a quick, intense 
high, and sells for about $20 a dose.

According to reports, drug agents have already seized several thousand 
dollars worth of crack in the first two months of this year.

Another very popular but inexpensive drug is marijuana. A bust Thursday 
that netted ten pounds of marijuana in one place doesn't seem like such a 
big deal anymore, according to Kehagias. Last week, 50 pounds of the drug 
was seized in Lee County, and Chatham County officials seized more than two 
tons of it in one raid in 2000.

Though methamphetamines are not new drugs - they have been around for years 
in more urban areas - they seem to being gaining popularity rapidly in Lee 
County.

Meth, as it is commonly called, comes in many forms. It can be smoked, 
snorted or injected, depending on its form.

It can cause an intense high with feelings of paranoia, hallucinations, 
aggressive behavior, increased heart rate, convulsions, extreme rise in 
body temperature (as high as 108 degrees which can cause brain damage and 
death), uncontrollable movements, insomnia and impaired speech, among other 
things.

The drug unit recently seized more than a pound of crystal meth - one of 
the most potent forms of methamphetamine - with a street value of $92,000.

The popularity of oxycodone, often know by its brand name Oxycontin, is 
also rising rapidly in the area, according to Kehagias.

The drug, which is approved for legal use as a powerful, time-release 
pain-killer, is easily abused and gives a heroin-like high when it is 
crushed, destroying the time-release coating. Oxycodone is actually a 
derivative of heroin, and has been referred to a "hillbilly heroin" because 
of its popularity in rural areas, Kehagias said.

The penalties for possessing oxycodone without a prescription are harsh, 
since its effects can be deadly. Kehagias said the drug unit has started 
charging those selling the drug with trafficking heroin. According to North 
Carolina General statute, the charge of trafficking heroin calls for a 
mandatory minimum sentence of 70 months in prison and a $50,000 fine for 
possession of 4 to 14 grams.

MDMA, commonly called ecstasy, is another drug that has been around for 
many years in larger cities. "Ecstasy has been a popular drug in college 
towns and places with a lot of night clubs and bars," Kehagias said. "We 
don't have that here, but we are starting to see more ecstasy."

A mix between an LSD-like hallucinogen and a cocaine-like amphetamine, 
ecstasy provides a long-lasting high, but can have deadly side effects.

Regardless of what the drug is, Kehagias said anyone using or selling 
narcotics could find themselves a target of the drug unit. "We don't 
concentrate on any specific drugs," he said. "Anyone out there selling, 
we're going to bust them."

The unit has been making good on that promise in its more than 15 years of 
existence. Last year the unit seized drugs worth an estimated $2,794,937 in 
Lee County, a 12 percent increase over the year before, Kehagias said.

The City/County Drug Unit is comprised of seven members, two of which are 
funded by the local Alcohol Beverage Control Board. The others are members 
of the Sanford Police Department and Lee County Sheriff's Department.

When Billy Bryant was elected sheriff in 1986, he and Sanford Police Chief 
Ronnie Yarborough got together and formed the combined drug unit, Kehagias 
said.

Nearly 16 years later, it is one of the largest drug units in the area, 
Kehagias said, and the only combined city-county unit nearby. The Moore 
County Sheriff's office only has two drug officers while Chatham County has 
four.

While investigating drug activity, the unit uses several techniques to 
catch users and dealers, Kehagias said. Often, confidential informants are 
used to make buys from known dealers. Once an informant has made several 
buys, agents can use that person's testimony to secure a search warrant for 
the seller's property.

Occasionally an undercover drug agent will make buys, but the agents making 
the buys in Lee County aren't from the City/County Drug Unit. "We have a 
mutual aid agreement with other counties where we'll send an officer there 
to do their buys and they'll send an officer here," Kehagias said. "It 
pretty much works that way through North Carolina."

Agents also set up what they call "buy busts" where they arrange to buy a 
large amount of drugs from a suspected dealer, like the pound of crystal 
meth that was seized in January, and arrest the seller as soon as the 
transaction is completed, Kehagias said.

The least common type of bust done by the drug unit turns the agents into 
dealers. "We actually get them to buy from us, and we bust the buyers," 
Kehagias said. "We don't do that a lot."

As drug use increases in rural areas, like Lee County, Kehagias said, so 
will the activities of local narcotics officers. Already in the first two 
months of 2002, more than a half a million dollars worth of drugs have been 
seized in Lee, Moore and Harnett counties.
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