MBN PROBE

Claims Must Be Openly Investigated

Claims that Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics equipment was swapped around to
curry political favor, pay back political favors or allocated according to
political influence and personal use are serious and must be openly
investigated.

A report obtained by Gannett News Service to MBN chief Frank Melton
characterizing transfer of MBN airplanes to the Harrison County Sheriff's
Department and the Hancock County Port Authority as political deals
involving U.S. Sen. Trent Lott's office should be pursued aggressively by
state and federal investigators.

If the claims are false, they must be repudiated. If true, criminal charges
must be pressed.

This means that Melton and State Auditor Phil Bryant must take the lead in
ferreting out these claims.

Melton was named to head MBN after these alleged events occurred. His claim
to the post was his hard-charging honesty and commitment to fight drugs.
How he handles this investigation will test his ability to maintain public
trust in MBN and its cohesion as a crime-fighting unit.

Bryant, a Republican, must wade through a case involving politically
high-profile people.

State-owned planes and equipment should be used for carefully defined,
legitimate state business, not given away or assigned for purely political
or personal purposes.

If a law has been broken, prosecution must result.