CRACKDOWN ON DRUGS NETS 138 MORE ARRESTS

ST. PETERSBURG - Investigators from the St. Petersburg Police Department
and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office continue to work in tandem to rid
the county's largest city of its street-level drug dealers, representatives
from both agencies announced at a news conference Tuesday.

At a similar news conference Aug. 15, St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck
Harmon and Sheriff Everett Rice trumpeted the results of their joint
operation thus far - nearly 100 cases made against street-level drug dealers.

Since then, Harmon said Tuesday, 138 more cases have been made after
undercover operatives purchased mainly crack cocaine from suspected dealers
throughout the city. Dealers have been as young as 12 years old, Harmon said.