3 DEATHS SUGGEST FIGHT FOR DRUG SUPREMACY, POLICE SAY

The execution-style shooting of two men and a woman in a Bailey Avenue
apartment provides the strongest evidence to date of an ongoing battle for
Buffalo's illegal drug trade, police say.

A vacuum in the hierarchy of city drug dealers in recent years has resulted
in out-of-town drug dealers moving in and trying to carve out turfs,
narcotics investigators say.

The investigators believe Jamaican drug dealers from the New York City area
are sending members of their gangs to take control of the local drug trade.

"This new element from New York City operates differently. They have no
qualms about using violence. This type of execution occurs commonly in New
York City," a Buffalo narcotics investigator said.

Late last week when a dispute among drug dealers ended, three people were
dead - all shot in the head.

The slayings occurred in the Bailey Avenue apartment rented by Fearon E.
Williams, 28, a native of the Caribbean island of Jamaica who has lived in
the United States since 1992.

Also slain were Patrick Cranston, 26, who lived in Jamaica and was visiting
Williams, his cousin; and Donnette McClary, Williams' 32-year-old girlfriend.

Williams was considered a big-time drug dealer, police said.

"During a search of the crime scene, we found two hidden semi-automatic
handguns that were loaded," said Joseph Riga, chief of the Homicide Bureau.
"We also found cocaine packaging material."

In identifying and finding suspects, police have not had an easy job.

"This is an extremely difficult case. We haven't been able to locate any
witnesses, and although we suspect it was drug-related, we don't have
specific motives," Riga said.

One possible motive under consideration is that the homicides were
committed by other Jamaican drug dealers looking to eliminate competition,
according to investigators.

Two years ago, Homicide Detective Sgt. Anthony Costantino and Detective Ray
Masecchia questioned Williams in the murder of a Jamaican suspected of
being involved in drug trafficking, Riga said.

The detectives, according to the chief, believed Williams had information
on the 1998 slaying of Berris Henry, who was shot several times in a car on
Dunlop Avenue.

Henry, police said, was a drug kingpin.

A year ago, Williams was among six people arrested in a raid at 2312 Main
St. Police confiscated 2 pounds of marijuana, $10,985 in cash and a 9 mm
handgun.

Detectives say it is possible that the triple homicide, which occurred
sometime before Sunday in the apartment at 1891 Bailey, may be only the
beginning of increased violence.

Only two months into the new year, the number of Buffalo homicides has hit
11, which is more than double the number for the same period last year.

"There were a number of prosecutions in recent years against high-level
drug dealers, and that created a gap, and we had a lull," the narcotics
investigator said.

The out-of-town drug dealers, he added, are viewed as managers who come in
and set up a drug-distribution network for their associates.

"Once they get rooted in, there's bloodshed, but they're replaced just as
easily," the investigator said.

Jamaican drug dealers have traditionally been known to sell marijuana, but
that has changed because of higher profit margins with cocaine sales.

A pound of marijuana, police said, has a street value of $600 to $800; a
kilogram of cocaine, which is the equivalent of 2.2 pounds, has the
potential to sell for $20,000 or more, depending on how many times it is
thinned out with filler material.

Narcotics detectives have primarily focused on street-level dealers,
according to Capt. Mark D. Morgan, commander of the Narcotics and Vice Bureau.

"A lot of our time has been spent responding to quality-of-life crimes
involving street-level dealers, which is important, but you are not going
to see this level of player out there," Morgan said of Williams.

Morgan added that upper-echelon drug dealers are often elusive and can be
arrested only after lengthy, in-depth investigations.

"They are nomadic, and you're not going to notice them unless you're on a
long-term case," Morgan said.