DRUG DRIVE-THROUGH WINDOW SHUT DOWN BY POLICE

Syracuse Cops Say They Have Never Seen Anything Like it

(April 8, 2002) -- SYRACUSE -- You couldn't get an order of fries on the
side or extra packets of ketchup at 381 Cortland Ave.

What you could get, though, at this drive-up window was a buzz -- the kind
crack cocaine addicts crave -- after ringing the buzzer and placing an
order, police said.

Detectives heard for several weeks that people in the rear apartment of the
five-unit building had followed the fast-food concept and opened a drug
trade business through a back window. Customers simply could ring the
buzzer, place an order, and pick up their drugs.

"I've never heard of anything quite like this," Lt. John Corbett, a
detective working on the case, told the Post-Standard of Syracuse. "This is
the first full-service drug window I've ever seen."

The property has a long driveway that loops around the back of the house
where the window is. The buzzer was installed near the outside window sill,
Lt. Joe Cecile said.

Investigators spent several days watching the operation, then obtained a
search warrant and stormed the building in mid-March.

Nobody was home, but police did find more than two ounces of crack cocaine
with a street value of about $6,500, a digital scale, cell phones and
dozens of small plastic bags for packaging.

Metal bars had been installed on the drive-through window "to keep
dissatisfied customers from getting at the goods or the employees," Cecile
said.

The police waited inside. They were amazed at what happened next.

"We're inside cracking up because people are coming up to the house,
ringing the bell and getting mad that no one's home," Corbett said. "We
heard one guy say, 'The house must've gotten raided.' "

Added Cecile: "Just like any other disgruntled customers. They grumbled
about the service and stomped away."

The operation was the brainchild of Leroy Robinson, 24, of New York City,
and Rashidy Oliver and Kevin Adjer, both 16 and of Philadelphia. They were
arrested when they returned to the apartment later that day, Corbett said.

Although all three denied living in the apartment, they had keys that fit
the door and their belongings were inside, Corbett said.

Each suspect was charged with felony counts of criminal possession of a
controlled substance and obstructing government administration. They were
being held without bail in the Onondaga County Justice Center.

Police said the case had the usual suspects.

"We're seeing this a lot lately, people coming from larger metropolitan
areas to small places like Syracuse, Binghamton, and Rochester to sell
drugs because in the larger places the drug markets have reached their
saturation points," Corbett said. "They look for new outlets and stay
around as long as they can last."