FORTY-THREE WARRANTS ISSUED IN OPERATION PIRATE COUNTRY CRACK BUSTS

FERNANDINA BEACH -(AP)- Dozens of street-level crack cocaine dealers were
rounded up in this northeast Florida coastal community Friday after a
five-month investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration local
police.

Some 70 agents had 43 arrest warrants and had made 28 arrests by midday.

About half of those arrested are facing federal charges and the other half
are going to state court, said Brent Eaton, a spokesman for the DEA.

"I will be hard to buy drugs in Fernandina Beach tonight," he said.

A special DEA Mobile Enforcement Team of 12 agents and a supervisor arrived
in this community of 12,000 on Sept. 20, with buy money and the technology
needed to conduct their investigation, which was known as Operation Pirate
Country.

Agents targeted street-level and wholesale-level dealers, Eaton said.

"We can return the streets to the law-abiding citizens of this community,"
said Fernandina Beach Police Chief Robert "Chip" Hammond.

Hammond contacted the DEA shortly after taking over as police chief because
of his concern about a high level of crack dealing and associated violence
in this small city, just south of the Georgia line, Eaton said.

Much of the activity, including gunfire, was within a few blocks of the
town's historic district, with its quaint bed and breakfast homes and
specialty shops.

With a force of only 32 officers, Hammond said he soon discovered there were
more drug dealers than police.

"I don't know why it is so large. I only know we were outnumbered," he said.

Most of those arrested were from Fernandina Beach, although one suspect was
sought in Jacksonville and another in nearby Yulee, Eaton said.

Many of the customers were local residents, some of whom work at the local
paper mill, although some came from Georgia and Jacksonville, Eaton said.

While the arrests have eliminated most of the drug dealers in Fernandina
Beach, Hammond said others may fill in the void.

"We are going to have to stay on top of this. We have to keep the heat on,"
he said.

Helping make the arrests with the DEA and Fernandina Beach Police were the
U.S. Marshal's Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Nassau
County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol.