FBI HELPS SEARCH FOR MISSING MARIJUANA

The FBI is offering a $40,000 reward for specific
information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible
for two thefts totaling nearly 5,000 pounds of marijuana from the
Chatham County Sheriff's Department.

"We want individuals with specific knowledge to come forth," said
Chris Swecker, special agent of the Charlotte division of the FBI. "We
actually have an overload of information on this case."

But much of the information has been general information based on
innuendo and rumor, he said.

"We have pursued a number of leads," he said. "We have some very
promising ones."

However, Swecker declined to elaborate, saying the investigation is
ongoing.

The FBI has been investigating the two thefts since January. The
Chatham County Sheriff's Department, in its largest drug bust,
confiscated the nearly 5,000 pounds of marijuana from a home in Siler
City in February of last year.

The marijuana apparently came from Mexico and then came to North
Carolina through Texas, Swecker said.

The Chatham County Sheriff's Department placed the seized marijuana in
the back of an armored 2‡-ton truck that was parked behind the department.

"The marijuana was stored in the truck because of storage problems,"
Sheriff Ike Gray said.

This past February, he said the evidence room could not accommodate
the 20- to 40-pound bundles of marijuana, which had an estimated
street value of half a million dollars.

In September of last year, Sheriff's Department officials drove the
truck full of marijuana to the county's landfill. When they opened the
back of the truck, they saw that about 3,000 pounds of the marijuana
was missing.

After notifying the Sheriff's Department about the missing marijuana,
they buried the remaining marijuana -- about 2,000 pounds -- in a pit
at the landfill. Several weeks later, it was discovered that the
buried marijuana had been stolen from the landfill.

Gray said the procedure for seized marijuana is now to burn
it.

The FBI has found no evidence connecting the two thefts, Swecker said,
saying that the agency also has more information about the theft from
the landfill than the theft from the truck.

"With the truck in the parking lot, virtually anyone could have had
access," Swecker said.

A side window of the truck was broken into, and the padlock on the
back of the truck was left in tact, he said.

However, he said, the FBI has "subjects involved in the landfill
theft." "There were five to 10 people involved with burying the
marijuana," he said.

While the FBI has been investigating the Sheriff's Department, it also
has been looking elsewhere, he said, saying the early focus on the
Sheriff's Department was based on the logical sequence of the
investigation.

"It's very normal to start with the agency that's missing the drugs,"
Swecker said. "We always start the investigation with those who have
had access to the drugs. We're not just looking at the Sheriff's
Department."

Swecker said the department has been helpful in the investigation,
granting about a dozen interviews. He also said Gray voluntarily took
a polygraph test.

"He has set the tone, and that's good," Swecker said. "We were asked
into this investigation. [Sheriff Gray] has called me just about every
week to see how things are going. Not everyone wants the FBI tramping
in their back yard, but Sheriff Gray invited us."

The Sheriff's Department has been criticized for the thefts of the
marijuana, and one county commissioner, Rick Givens, has said he was
considering running for sheriff.

"Our department has been under scrutiny since this thing started,"
Gray said. "Some employees have been ridiculed as a result of the
missing marijuana.

"My approach is to get the confidence back in this department. We want
100 percent cooperation to vindicate this department."

Where to call

For the next two days, 10 FBI agents will be in Chatham County
investigating the missing marijuana. Those with pertinent information
are asked to call (704) 377-9200.