ASHEVILLE POLICE PULL OUT OF MEG DRUG TEAM

ASHEVILLE - Asheville police have pulled out of a drug investigation
partnership that includes two other law enforcement agencies so detectives
can better home in on the city's crack cocaine problem, Police Chief Bill
Hogan said.

The Metropolitan Enforcement Group had four Asheville detectives in its
12-agent force, which has seized drugs valued at nearly $5 million in
Asheville and Buncombe County from January through October.

The Asheville officers now will work with a new city police team dedicated
to dealing with drug crime, much of it in public housing, where about 4,000
people live.

The Metropolitan Enforcement Group, also known as MEG, was established in
1987 to enforce narcotic laws in Asheville and Buncombe County. It includes
five agents from the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department and three State
Bureau of Investigation agents.

The unit typically investigates large-scale movements of illegal drugs,
although smaller dealers often are arrested.

"My decision to pull the department out of MEG is simply an organizational,
or business, decision. We have a significant crack cocaine problem in the
city that (city) council has expressed great concern about from the day I
got here," said Hogan, who was hired as chief six months ago.

The drug enforcement unit will not disband, said Buncombe County Sheriff's
Capt. Lee Farnsworth, who is an advising officer to MEG.

Farnsworth said he supports Hogan's decision and understands the chief has
city drug problems he must address. He added, as did Hogan, that he expects
the law agencies will work together on major cases.

The move is still too fresh to determine how MEG might change, Farnsworth
added, including if arrest rates or drug forfeiture money seizures might fall.

Charles Moody, agent-in-charge of the SBI's western region, said he's
disappointed with but not surprised by Hogan's decision. The enforcement
group has a diversified focus, Moody said, and is devoting resources to
cocaine, crack cocaine, prescription drug fraud, methamphetamine and meth labs.

The group has seized nearly 25,000 grams of powder cocaine, more than
100,000 grams of processed marijuana and seized or purchased almost 500
grams of crack cocaine from January through October, said Paula Ray, the
SBI agent who currently heads MEG.

"Our philosophy is we want to take the million-dollar cocaine distributors
out so you can't by the $10 rock," Ray said. "You take out the big dealers
and maybe you put a dent in the problem. You take out a street drug dealer
and three more replace him."

Since his arrival in Asheville, Hogan has been asked by City Council
members to take on neighborhood drug problems. Among the most vocal has
been Vice Mayor Carl Mumpower, who has called for the city to devote $1
million to fight drugs in public housing.

That push failed, but the council in June approved spending $250,000 for
five police officers and equipment, primarily to fight the city's drug
problem as part of a larger Safe Neighborhoods Initiative.

Mumpower said he supports Hogan's decision to boost the resources "where
the rubber meets the road," that being pursing street-level drug dealers.

Sidebar

Statistics from January to October 2004

Grams of powder cocaine seized: 24,498.5

Grams of processed marijuana seized: 100,513

Grams of crack cocaine seized or purchased: 476.1

Ecstasy pills seized: 1,800

Dosage units of other illegal prescription pills: 58,767

Methamphetamine lab busts: 22 (January to

current date)

Cases opened: 182

Felony drug arrests: 209

Source: SBI Agent Paula Ray, who heads MEG