DRUG-FIGHTING MONEY PUZZLES SHERIFFS

Local Authorities Say They Don't Know Why Their Counties Were Chosen,
Or What To Do

You'd expect North Carolina sheriffs to be thrilled when the federal
government offers millions of dollars in drug-fighting money. But the
windfall loses something when it comes with a "high-intensity drug
trafficking area" tag.

"I'm not sure why Johnston County was chosen," Johnston Sheriff Steve
Bizzell said Friday. "I don't know if it's because the Johnston County
Sheriff's Office is very aggressive and proactive about illegal drugs
or whether it's because I-95 and I-40 intersect in our county." The
feds gave the "high-intensity" designation to 26 counties nationwide
on Thursday, and five were right here: Wake, Durham, Johnston, Wayne
and Wilson. Authorities say the counties have become hubs of drug
activity in part because of the highways that connect the state with
the rest of the East Coast.

The news surprised some sheriffs, who aren't sure how the program
works or why they were included.

Maj. Lucy Zastrow, a spokeswoman with the Durham County Sheriff's
Office, said she was unaware of the program until this week. "They
have not notified anyone in this agency," Zastrow said Friday. "We
don't know about the criteria, how much grant money we will receive or
what the money is earmarked for."

"What we're seeing here is principally Mexican-based cartel activity
bringing drugs from across the border, staging into the Atlanta area
and parts of North Carolina, and then the drugs are picked up and
distributed throughout the East Coast, south into Florida," said Jack
Killorin, director of the Atlanta High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
program. The drugs come into the Atlanta area and are divided into
smaller loads for distribution to wholesalers, while money comes back
to Atlanta, the epicenter, Killorin said. Cash and drugs move up into
North Carolina via I-85 before connecting with the I-95 corridor.
Forget about Miami as the main drug hub, Killorin said.

"The movie 'Miami Vice' is very old-fashioned," he said. "Miami now
gets its drugs from our area. And if you were to do the show today, it
would have to be 'Metro Atlanta Vice.' "

As a result of the "high-intensity" designation, local law enforcement
agencies will receive training, money, equipment and guidance on drug
cases, said Donny Hansen, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's
resident agent in charge of the Raleigh offices. Local agencies also
will benefit from "an entourage of intelligence" that will bolster
efforts to take down drug cartel networks, from street-level dealers
to wholesalers, transporters and money launderers.

"All the way to the highest level," Hansen said. Hansen and local
sheriffs said the Triangle has become a center for drug operations
partly because of Interstates 85, 40 and 95, along with a growing
population that brings drugs to the region.

"We have had an influx of new people in the area. That includes the
Hispanic drug cartels," Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison said Friday. But
Hispanic traffickers are not alone.

"There are a number of other groups," Hansen said. "It's really about
the fact that we have major interstates that give traffickers access
to the south and the north."

Harrison said he will use some of the money to pay his deputies
overtime while they investigate drug traffickers.

"Any help we can get, especially federal help, is great," he said.
"I'm looking forward to getting that money."