INTENSIVE INVESTIGATION USED TO SECURE DRUG ARRESTS

Bails From $2,000 To $100,000 Set For 17 Of 18 Suspects Caught In Operation
Dragnet

Tuesday's sweeping drug raids on the Charleston peninsula were the result
of an intensive investigation that used surveillance, informants and
undercover buys to build cases against low-level dealers, authorities said.
Acting on complaints from residents, Charleston police launched a probe in
November that targeted areas where the narcotics trade seemed to prosper,
said Charles Francis, a police spokesman.

Police declined to give specifics on Operation Dragnet, but arrest warrants
detail a series of drug purchases made by informants while narcotics
officers watched. By late Wednesday, the operation had yielded 18 arrests
and the seizure of drugs, guns and cash. Police were looking for 19 other
suspects, Francis said. Investigators say the alleged dealers were not part
of a formal drug ring. One suspect, however, was described by police as a
main supplier of heroin to downtown Charleston. Olanders Whitley, 35, of
Charleston is charged with trafficking heroin and possession of the drug
near a school.

Police seized 62 bags of heroin from a Cannon Street home where Whitley was
found, warrants stated.

Magistrate Jack Guedalia set bail at $100,000. Guedalia set bails ranging
from $2,000 to $100,000 for the 17 suspects before him Wednesday. One
suspect claimed the drugs and cash police linked to him were left in a car
by someone else. He had borrowed the car, said Damian Laponta Brown, 25, of
North Charleston. Brown is also one of two suspects accused of trying to
escape from police Tuesday. Police say Brown and Sheldon Simmons, 28,
rushed from a vehicle full of suspects outside the Charleston Police
Department and knocked over an officer in the process.

Both were captured a half-mile away. The lawyer for suspect Janette
Collins, 49, of Charleston said police were actually looking for his
client's twin sister.

Collins denies the cocaine charge against her. Cpl. Steven Sierko told the
judge that police had warrants on both sisters. Attorney Melissa Gay, who
represents Charleston brothers Maurice and Algernard Young, said a scuffle
with police Tuesday was the result of a misunderstanding. She said Maurice,
23, who is accused of struggling with an officer while being arrested on
drug charges, was "a little confused" by what was going on. Algernard 21,
who is accused of punching an officer, thought he had permission to leave
when the officer stopped him, she said.