Students Urged To Call, Report Dealers A series of talks about teenage drug and alcohol use among South Eastern School District students prompted police to take matters into their own hands. The Borough of Stewartstown is footing the bill for a 24-hour tip line that so far received two reports about area drug dealers, said Stewartstown police Chief Charles Reid. The department, along with more than 1,000 citizens in the school district, took a hard look at drug and underage drinking problems in May. [continues 242 words]
Drug Makes Comeback Across Region SUMMERVILLE--Before anyone knocks on a door, somebody checks to make sure the gas masks, fire-resistant suits, bomb squads and ambulances are all in place. When it comes to busting a suspected methamphetamine laboratory, even something as routine as serving a warrant turns into a grim adventure. Local authorities say the drug, known on the street as "crank" or "crystal meth," is making a comeback in the Lowcountry, the state and the South. Lab seizures have increased statewide from 25 in fiscal year 2000-01 to 130 in FY 2002-03, which ended Sept. 30. While most South Carolina methamphetamine labs are found in the Upstate, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported a 400 percent to 500 percent increase in clandestine laboratories in Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties this year alone. [continues 1031 words]
State Stands Alone in Arresting Women Who Engage in Risky Behavior During Pregnancy It should have been among the most celebrated days of Regina McKnight's life. She was to deliver her third child, a girl she'd named Mercedes, but the 5-pound infant was stillborn. An autopsy revealed traces of a cocaine byproduct in the infant's blood. Results were given to police, and McKnight was charged with homicide by child abuse. That day she joined more than 100 women in South Carolina who have faced criminal charges in the past 15 years for using cocaine while pregnant. [continues 2179 words]
An 83-year-old man is accused of participating Thursday morning in what deputies say was an attempt to deliver 67 pounds of marijuana to Estill. [end]
Routine traffic stops in recent weeks on Interstate 95 put thousands of dollars from suspected drug-runners in a Dorchester County kitty, police said. Since July 25, the Dorchester County Sheriff's division of the Interstate Criminal Enforcement Unit has confiscated $173,000, 15 pounds of cocaine and 3 pounds of marijuana. Two men were arrested and a third was released, said Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash. All the men are from Florida. The first traffic stop was made July 25. Phillip S. Lee, 38, of Weston, Fla., was stopped for tailgating. A deputy found $173,000 in bundled bills stashed in a spare tire. [continues 208 words]
