DRUG ARRESTS SHOCK LINDEN'S RESDIENTS

LINDEN - Gossip has a way of channeling through the Heads of State
Hair Salon on Main Street.

This month, the hot topic is drugs. On Feb. 26, agents from the
Cumberland County Bureau of Narcotics arrested 10 people on the
outskirts of this small town on the county's northeastern edge. The
arrests came six months into an investigation of drug-related crime in
the area. Agents seized marijuana, cocaine, prescription drugs, money
and weapons during a search of six homes.

The arrests have caused shock and disbelief in Linden, where 132
people live. "It hits close to home," said Dana Byrd, a stylist at the
salon. Byrd said many of her customers know those arrested or their
families. Because of those relationships, some residents declined to
talk beyond calling the situation "scary" or expressing disbelief. "It
is a little shocking," Byrd said. "But when everybody knows everybody,
you can't keep that quiet." The arrests are particularly disturbing
because Linden is such a small and rural town.

Visitors driving in from the west are greeted by a cemetery and
several churches. Main Street is little more than a post office, town
hall, a volunteer fire department and a mixed bag of homes, farmland
and businesses. Linden's churches dominate the landscape as the
largest buildings in town, aside from an abandoned brick
schoolhouse.

Pastor Wayne T. Bone of Linden First Baptist Church said the town has
for the most part stayed true to the "old-timey core values" that once
covered the Bible Belt.

Religion is very important to the community, he said. Community
meetings are advertised through the six or so churches in town, and
many of the families in Bone's congregation have attended services for
generations.

He said the recent arrests have churchgoers concerned. "We are praying
that God will intervene," he said. "They don't need the drugs; they
just need the Lord." Bone's church provides an outreach program. He
said his congregation has been repeatedly told to "love the sinner but
hate the sin." The community is prepared to do what it can to help
those caught up in drugs, he said.

"Church exists for others, not just its members," Bone said. "There's
a place that they can come to and get some help." Byrd, the salon
stylist, said many residents in the Linden area have seen a recent
up-tick in crime.

"We expect it out of Fayetteville," Byrd said. "But it's everywhere."
The post office was broken into, and Byrd's employer has been the
victim of break-ins and vandalism.

Byrd said the hope is that crime will stop now that arrests have been
made. Small-town probe Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said
Linden's small-town atmosphere could potentially create complications
for investigators. "Conducting surveillance in rural areas can be
tricky," she said. "We are only as good as our informants." Before
searching the homes, informants were sent to buy drugs from the
suspects, according to search warrants.

During the search, agents looked for drugs, drug money, weapons,
paraphernalia and personal papers.

Charged in the raids were: Daniel James Bowden, 50, of the 3100 block
of Fieldstone Drive; William James Hair, 58, and his wife, Alice Faye
Hair, 52, both of the 8100 block of Challenger Drive; Brandy Lynn
Miller, 18, and Michael Wayne Wright, 28, both of the 1100 block of
Palestine Road; Odell Surles, 63, of the 4800 block of Pine Street;
James David Carter, 53, and Teresa Lee Reed, 48, both of the 8200
block of Colliers Chapel Church Road; Violet Marie Reed, 38, of the
6200 block of Crocket Raynor Road; and William Antron Tearry, 28, of
the 4900 block of Pine Street. Tanna said those arrested did not
represent a single drug network but instead were separate entities, in
some ways interconnected. She said the different cells often traded
among themselves or with operations in surrounding counties.

Tanna said the drug problem is no better or worse in Linden than in
other parts of the county.

Drug seizures up Department statistics show that the amount of drugs
seized or bought by county narcotics agents has risen in the last
three years. One agent said cocaine and marijuana continue to be the
drugs of choice, with prescription drug abuse on the rise.

"That's the new thing that's out there," he said. But while the
numbers have risen, the county has largely avoided some of the drug
problems of its neighbors.

In the last three years, county agents have seized slightly more than
175 marijuana plants.

In Harnett County, 70,000 plants were seized last summer alone. Tanna
said methamphetamine production is down in Cumberland County because
of stricter regulations of over-the-counter drugs used to make it. But
in neighboring Sampson County, methamphetamine operations drew the
attention of federal prosecutors. Eight people pleaded guilty to
production late last year.

At the time, U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding referred to Sampson
County's methamphetamine problems as an "epidemic." Linden is just
south of the Harnett County line. Tanna said some buyers and sellers
related to the Linden drug arrests came from that county. Since drugs
are not contained by county lines, Tanna said, it is important for
investigators to work with other law enforcement agencies. During the
Linden search, agents from the state Department of Revenue seized
thousands of dollars worth of personal property, vehicles and cash.
Tax levies are being assessed against the property, according to the
Sheriff's Office. Byrd said crime has been a popular topic of
conversation for some time in the town. Following the arrests, she
said, the comments are increasingly the same. "I think they're tired
of it," she said.