FROST DENY 'DRUG RING,' DECRY RAID

Although friends call them "Harold and Kumar" after the
marijuana-smoking title characters in the 2004 flick, two residents of
Randolph Residence Hall said the substances seized from their room in
an April 3 raid by Duke University Police Department officers were a
far cry from contraband.

Plastic bags containing "leafy-green vegetable matter," white powder
and 119 unidentified pills were confiscated from the third-floor room,
according to a police blotter. But the freshmen wrote in a jointly
authored e-mail that what appeared to be illegal substances were
merely oregano, powdered sugar and vitamin C supplements.

Maj. Gloria Graham, DUPD operations commander, declined to comment on
the investigation or whether the substances seized from the room had
since been identified.

March 25, nine days before the raid, DUPD investigators viewed "a
bundle of green leafy substance" in the room through an open door when
responding to a complaint of marijuana odor, but could not enter
because the residents were not present to consent to a search,
according to a police report.

The incident raised a red flag for the residents, who wrote that
officers could not have viewed anything within the room without
stepping inside. They added that others on the hall said they saw the
police walking around inside their room without their permission.

The students wrote that a wall jutting out adjacent to their room
prevents outsiders from seeing inside unless the door is at least
halfway open, and they are certain they could not have left their door
more than a crack open.

Following the March 25 incident, which they deemed an "invasion of
privacy," the freshmen wrote they "had a feeling [DUPD] would be back
again."

The students added that they were most troubled by the confiscation of
personal items. In addition to the suspected contraband, officers
seized watches, two laptop computers, two external hard drives, three
cameras, four empty beer boxes, two beer mini kegs and jewelry,
including a ring with a cannabis design.

"At this point we just want our belongings back as there is clearly
nothing to be found," the students wrote. "We are beginning to think
they are just keeping our stuff because they are disappointed they did
not find what they wanted to find."

The students also dismissed allegations that their room is the hub of
an East Campus-wide drug operation.

The theory stems from information provided by a confidential
informant, who stated in late February that the Randolph residents had
prepared and distributed drugs from their dormitory and were major
marijuana suppliers for the all-freshman campus, DUPD Officer Rekayi
Isley wrote in an affidavit in support of the search warrant.

"If we were the epicenter of a drug ring, we would be wearing Gucci
suits, and we wouldn't be going to Duke," one of the freshmen said in
a phone interview.

Freshman Michael Curtis, who lives on the same floor as the accused,
said he believes the students are innocent.

"We're all good friends with the guys," he said. "I don't know of any
drama."