YORK COUNTY LAW AGENCIES LINK UP TO DRIVE OUT DRUG DEALERS

YORK

- -- Earlier this month, York County drug detectives found 26 marijuana plants
behind a Sturgis Road house, along with plant lights and other growing
materials. They charged the residents with manufacturing the drug and
conspiring to sell it.

These arrests were among the more than 500 drug cases the York County
Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit has made since its creation in
September. The unit has seized more than $2.3 million worth of marijuana,
crack cocaine and other drugs.

The first permanent joint operation formed by local law-enforcement
agencies, the unit has succeeded, officials say.

"We can't see anything but positive," said York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant.
"The way things have developed, the progress and success has been
outstanding."

The 12-officer unit is a partnership among the Sheriff's Office and the Rock
Hill, Fort Mill and York police departments. It also cooperates with the
state Law Enforcement Division; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms; the FBI and other agencies. Its goal is drive away drug dealers by
making it too risky to sell here, law enforcement officials say.

The drug problem in York County is not getting worse, but the local agencies
thought their efforts would be more effective if they joined forces, said
Rock Hill Police Chief David Fortson, who took office in June 1998.

"What goes on in Rock Hill is not limited to Rock Hill," he said. "Drug
dealers operate all through York County. We're often dealing with the same
people, and the information was not always shared."

Most of the unit's arrests -- about 60 percent -- have been made in
unincorporated parts of the county. The officers have seized about 500
pounds of marijuana, 300 grams of cocaine and crack cocaine and have
arrested 493 people as of March 31, according to the Sheriff's Office.

In September, officers arrested 32 people on 100 drug-related charges.
During these and other busts, officers also confiscated two motorcycles,
four cars, $110,000 in cash and several guns and cellular phones.

"They've definitely had a presence here in Fort Mill," said Fort Mill Police
Chief Jeff Helms. "Drug dealers know that they are out there."

In December, in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the unit
seized 469 pounds of marijuana from a tractor trailer from El Paso, Texas,
en route to York County. Officers stopped the truck on S.C. 51 in Fort Mill
and arrested five suspects.

Since the unit began operating, Fort Mill police have received fewer
complaints about drug dealers selling on street corners. Informants have had
less information to share with police because drug dealers have been
arrested or have moved, Helms said.

All drug suspects taken to court have pleaded guilty, said Marvin Brown, the
chief investigator of the 16th Circuit Solicitor's Office.

How many of the 493 cases have ended in conviction wasn't immediately
available.

"If you do good solid investigating, then when they come in, you can make
them an offer, and they will take it," Brown said. "We haven't had a jury
trial in any of the cases yet. I want to say it's because of the quality of
the cases."

Bryant and Fortson said the success of the multi-jurisdictional unit could
lead to more partnerships.

The Sheriff's Office does the drug lab work, testing confiscated drugs to
confirm they are illegal substances, and does polygraphs for the municipal
departments, Bryant said.

The sheriff said he hoped the smaller police departments -- Clover and Tega
Cay -- could find extra resources to join the drug unit.

Along the lines of partnerships, Fortson said he and the sheriff had
discussed sharing the Rock Hill jail space and their crime-scene units,
which photograph, collect fingerprints and do other investigative work at
crime scenes.

Though the drug unit has made the most headlines, Fortson said racking up
drug arrests isn't the unit's main objective. It's scaring off dealers.

"If folks are afraid to come to this county to sell narcotics, then we will
be successful," he said.