VIRGINIA IS GEARING UP FOR A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT ORGANIZED DRUG TRAFFICKING

Newshawk Note: Picture inset left.. Caption reads: Bill Brown of the Drug
Enforcement Agency yesterday showed drug-lab apparatus to Walter Felton Jr.
left, deputy counselor to the governor. [photo by Mark Gormus/ Times-Dispatch]

Focus on drug trafficking / Task force goal to find ways to reduce
available narcotics

Virginia is gearing up for a comprehensive look at organized drug
trafficking to find ways to reduce the amount of narcotics available on the
street.

State Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, announced the creation of a
Virginia State Crime Commission task force yesterday. Task force members,
expected to include representatives of federal, state and local law
enforcement agencies, will examine the methods used by organized drug
distribution rings and make recommendations on how to combat them.

"Our primary objective will be to strengthen the ability of law enforcement
agents to disrupt these organizations and their illegal activities," said
Stolle, who is chairman of the commission.

Members of the task force are expected to be announced next month, and it
will begin meeting immediately, said Rich Savage, commission director. The
group will likely hold public hearings across the state as part of its
work, he said.

"The primary goal is to disrupt these organizations so they know Virginia
is not a place for this type of business," Savage said after yesterday's
commission meeting.

Stolle sponsored a resolution requesting the study, which the General
Assembly adopted in March. It directs the commission to examine:

the effectiveness of current law enforcement and drug interdiction methods;

the manner and effectiveness of the cooperation among local, state and
federal law-enforcement agencies in attempting interdiction;

Virginia's success in stemming the flow of illicit drugs and in enforcing
the laws against drug possession and distribution.

Each year there are numerous bills introduced that deal with drugs, Stolle
said, but there hasn't been a coordinated effort to examine proposals that
will best help to curtail the drug trade. A goal of the task force is to
educate legislators regarding the drug problem and ways to fight it, Stolle
said.

The task force will take a detailed look at the issues during the next year
and a half and make recommendations in time for the 2000 General Assembly
session.

"This is not a problem that we got into overnight, and it's not a problem
that's going to go away overnight," Stolle said. "It's not our intent to
come up with a bill by January to do away with the drug problem because
it's not going to happen."

During yesterday's meeting, the crime commission heard more than two hours
of presentations about drug-fighting efforts by the state police, FBI and
DEA. The agencies also discussed current drug trends in Virginia, including
a resurgence of heroin and the increasing spread of methamphetamines.

"Whether in rural or metropolitan areas across the state, none are immune
to the organized efforts of several or many people in the furtherance of
the drug trade," said Col. Wayne Huggins, state police superintendent.

Despite all the efforts to halt the drug trade, there remains a sobering
reality the authorities said they recognize: As long as the demand
continues, the supply will try to match it.

"As long as there are people out there willing to buy a product, there will
be someone willing to sell it to them," said FBI Agent Richard Robillard.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski