POLICE TARGET DRUG ACTIVITY IN RURAL TOWNS

Local, Federal, State Agencies Join Forces.

Operation Blood Drive is pumping new life into the Bossier Parish town of
Plain Dealing.

Blood Drive is the code name federal, state and local authorities gave to
an eight-month investigation into criminal activity that involved crack
cocaine distribution in the town of 1,200 residents and in rural areas of
neighboring Webster Parish. It led to the arrest of more than 10 people --
including members of the 59 Bloods gang -- and stopped cold a menacing
cocaine distribution ring working the streets of Plain Dealing.

"As soon as they started making arrests, just the overall crime rate went
down," said Plain Dealing Marshal Richard Stanford. "The people's attitudes
changed. We heard nothing but positive remarks from it."

That's the payoff for state and federal authorities who continue a
crackdown on rural gangs and drug activity -- which are becoming prevalent
in small countryside towns. Due in part to limited law enforcement
resources, criminal activities such as clandestine methamphetamine labs,
drug-trafficking and drug sales often go unchecked.

"Crime in a smaller town has a big impact. There's no escaping it. Day to
day, your quality of life is affected by it," said U.S. Attorney Bill Flanagan.

Violent crime rates have fallen on national and local levels. Statistics
are hard to come by on drug activity, however. Still, local law enforcement
agencies say evidence shows more of the drug activity in Northwest
Louisiana is seeping into the piney woods and quaint communities outside
Shreveport and Bossier City.

In June, members of a Webster gang that distributed more than 165 pounds of
cocaine over a three-year period were sentenced to lengthy prison terms
following a drug-trafficking investigation by the Drug Enforcement
Administration in Shreveport. The operation led to the arrest of more than
25 members of a gang calling itself Click and the 59 Bloods. The drug
activities occurred in the Springhill and Cullen areas.

B.J. Lawrence III, resident agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, said that crack cocaine is the biggest concern in rural
areas and that methamphetamine is popular in even more remote areas. "There
are some energetic entrepreneurs buying their dope in Shreveport and making
it available in those towns."

Said Flanagan, "To the extent we're trying to address drug activity out in
the country is not to say we're not addressing it in the city. The concern
is that in a small town, organized criminal activity has the potential of
essentially taking over the town, leaving an undermanned local police force
to deal with it."

More of these towns are turning to federal and state law enforcers for
assistance. "That's how we develop these cases," Flanagan said.

This year, state police have made dozens of drug arrests in areas like
Homer, Haynesville, Coushatta, Springhill, Vivian, Oil City, Campti and
Shongaloo. The arrests include methamphetamine and crack cocaine
distribution and marijuana cultivation.

"We've noticed over some period of time now the trend of narcotics dealers
moving their operations into the rural areas. We are concentrating more in
those areas now," said Lt. Col. Henry Whitehorn, deputy superintendent of
investigations for Louisiana state police. "Citizens are complaining of
being neglected in those areas and are concerned they're not getting the
law enforcement presence needed."

Whitehorn said the agencies use traffic stops, undercover officers and
confidential informants in their investigations.

Drug dealers "think they can blend in and go undetected," Whitehorn said.
"We realize this is a problem. And we're concentrating more of our
resources out there."

Word of mouth and telephone calls from concerned citizens also help in the
ongoing crackdown, he said.

Stanford said rural gangs and drug dealers like the remote locations of
smaller towns because, for many, it's where they grew up.

"It allows them to develop a close-knit organization. They know who they're
selling to. They're selling to kin, friends and people they've known all
their lives."