Pubdate: Tue, 25 May 2004 Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) Copyright: 2004 The Herald-Sun Contact: http://www.herald-sun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428 DRUG BUST A LUCKY CATCH If a routine police patrol turns up 14 pounds of cocaine just by chance, how much of the stuff is getting into - and through - Durham? Of course nobody knows, but the inference from an incident Friday night in the Kroger parking lot on Hillsborough Road is - plenty. The 6.5 kilos of cocaine (about 14.3 pounds) confiscated by police had an estimated street value of $300,000. That's a tidy sum for distributors along the drug pipeline from Colombia. Durham police arrested three people after they noticed some men apparently trying to break into a pickup truck. Others in a nearby SUV were watching, and police suspected they had a connection to the break-in. What turned up were small packets of cocaine hidden inside bags of dog food in the back of the SUV. Drug-sniffing dogs weren't fooled by the food or by an oily substance on the cocaine. The accidental drug bust ranks as one of the city's largest. It provides a glimpse into the magnitude of the drug trade in Durham, including its transshipment along interstate highways. Coming upon an unknown stash of cocaine is a matter of luck. We would prefer to see the Durham Police Department make some of its own luck with a round-the-clock drug offensive. As the Friday bust showed, Durham still has a drug habit. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake