LONG PRISON SENTENCES HIGHLIGHT ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS

North Charleston Targets Cocaine Suppliers

The video surveillance system that once trolled the surroundings of a
nondescript ranch-style home on Ranger Drive in North Charleston no longer
monitors the street for police.

The drug supplier who lived in the house and flooded the neighborhood with
cocaine is now in federal prison serving close to seven years.

His was a light sentence. Some of the suppliers received more than 20 years.

North Charleston police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration
announced this week the sentences of 19 of the city's mid-to upper-level
cocaine suppliers, originating from arrests made during a 2002, pre-dawn
drug raid.

While law enforcement agencies say cutting off the drug supply to embattled
communities affects demand and reduces incidents of violent crime, the word
on the street is that there is always someone waiting in the wings to
contribute to the drug problem.

Project Integrated Drug Enforcement Assistance, started by the DEA in 2002,
joined local law enforcement officers with federal agents to battle the
drug problem on its highest level: suppliers.

After an eight-month-long operation, the DEA moved on to other troubled
cities, leaving in its wake an ongoing relationship between the North
Charleston Police Department and the Charleston DEA field office.

During the raid, teams of police hit more than 20 homes in the
neighborhoods of Chicora/Cherokee, Union Heights, Dorchester/Waylyn,
Accabee and Charleston Farms.

Capt. Reggie Burgess, head of North Charleston's special operations unit,
said he was a lieutenant back when his department sought to dam up the
river of drugs flowing into the community.

"I grew up in North Charleston, attended its schools and still have family
here," Burgess said. "This is my neighborhood, and my department wanted to
claim it back."

His department partnered with the federal authorities to beef up their
combat against drug networks and to secure stiffer sentences for drug
offenders.

To Burgess, far too many violent crimes were happening in connection with
drugs.

During the early morning hours of Aug. 19, 2002, about 100 state, county,
city and federal law enforcement officers spread out across the city to
make the arrests. Investigators had made multiple purchases leading up to
the raids, building what they considered would be an air-tight case against
local drug wholesalers.

North Charleston Detective Greg Gomes, who currently is assigned to a DEA
drug task force, said he vividly recalls the morning of the raid.

"We met at the North Charleston Coliseum, at a staging area. We did our
homework, and we were confident that the suspects would be at the
locations," said Gomes, who listed participating agencies as the DEA,
Charleston County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, and the North Charleston Police Department.

Gomes said the data in selecting locations and choosing targets was fueled
by heavy drug call complaints, which highlighted critical areas in the
community. From there, he said, all officers had to do was wait and watch
the suppliers.

Assistant 9th Circuit Solicitor Mark Bourdon said federal charges were more
desirous against the 19 drug suppliers. He said mandatory minimum sentences
only come into play on the state level for second-time offenders.

"For first-time offenders, it's not mandatory to serve a minimum sentence
for simple drug possession," Bourdon said. "In the state system, offenders
are counted by their criminal records and their drug arrests."

Burgess said many cocaine suppliers had no criminal records, making the
federal road an easier course at getting them off the streets.

In federal court, Bourdon said, mandatory minimum sentences get meted out
for most offenses involving drugs and come with the stiff guideline that
offenders must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

With the DEA supplying over $50,000 for drugs and information, Gomes said,
undercover officers were able to access drug deals of considerable sizes,
which merited lengthy federal sentences.

"We bought from these guys in January and arrested them in August," Gomes
said. "We just kept them on the shelves" to build the cases.

Identifying the largest suppliers was simple, said Sgt. Karen Cordray, a
North Charleston intelligence officer. They left a paper trail paved with
dirty money.

Cordray, who accumulated data for the crackdown, said she compiled
information on the drug suppliers and parlayed it into an intricate
flowchart of illicit drug activity.

"We identified the players and targeted the neighborhoods they operated
in," Cordray said. "One of the goals of the project was to see a clean drop
in violent crimes involving drugs."

Cordray said the department had its reasons.

In 2003, federal cocaine seizures in South Carolina reached 194.2
kilograms, according to the DEA, and crimes related to drugs were too
numerous to list.

Kathy McClelland, a worker with the Palmetto Low Country Behavioral Health
clinic in North Charleston, hedged that it is hard to tell if there has
been a drop in the cocaine cases.

"It permeates throughout society, and it's not in one social economic
group," she said.

Cocaine, McClelland said, digs roots into communities: "And the important
thing to remember is that crack cocaine is not just a drug for the poor
anymore."

Randy Santana, of Positive Feedback Professional Counseling Associates in
North Charleston, said he has not seen a street-level effect from locking
the cocaine suppliers behind bars.

"If we didn't have a war on drugs, I'm sure the problem would be
quadrupled," he said. "But I haven't seen a noticeable drop in cocaine use.
It's an epidemic throughout the area, especially crack cocaine."

But Burgess said the sentences finally may cause a dent in the drug network
plaguing North Charleston.

Determining the impact of decreasing the supply will take time, he said.
"We targeted the people who supply the drugs to the guys out on the street.
We put a dent in the supply," Burgess said. "We may finally see a drop in
violent crimes related to drugs, but we won't know for certain until next year."