ISLE OF WIGHT, OTHER RURAL AREAS SEEING UPTICK IN HEROIN PRESENCE

ISLE OF WIGHT -- Heroin -- a narcotic more commonly found in urban
areas -- is making inroads into rural Isle of Wight and Surry counties.

Authorities are still searching for [name redacted], 47, of Dendron,
one of 22 people indicted Thursday on federal heroin drug trafficking
charges.

The indictments allege that [name redacted] is a drug courier and a
mid-level dealer for the drug ring, which stretched from New Jersey to
Hampton Roads, according to federal officials.

[name redacted] is charged with one count of conspiring to distribute
100 grams or more of heroin. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up
to 40 years in prison.

Another man -- [name2 redacted], 35 -- was listed with addresses in
Newport News and in Isle of Wight County, specifically on Rivers Arch
Road in Carrollton. He faces the same charge as [name redacted] and
is alleged to be a captain of the organization who handled day-to-day
operations, including packaging heroin, resupplying mid-level dealers
and collecting and storing drug proceeds, according to a federal indictment.

Though marijuana and cocaine are the most common drugs found in Isle
of Wight County, Capt. Paul Phelps of the Isle of Wight Sheriff's
Office says his department is seeing an increase in heroin in the county.

"It's everywhere," said Phelps, who estimates that his department's
narcotics unit has seen about a 3 percent increase in heroin since
last year.

"We know heroin gets sold in Isle of Wight," Phelps said. "It is a
concern for us."

Nearly all of the drugs are being brought into the county from outside
the area, he said.

That sometimes comes with fatal consequences, such as in the July 2008
shooting death of Smithfield High School student Tyrone Seaborne. The
star football player was killed outside the Sonic Drive-In in Eagle
Harbor during a botched marijuana deal with three Newport News men.

Although people may think rural areas are immune to heroin
distribution, Phelps says that's a misconception.

"Drugs are everywhere ... and touching every walk of life these days,"
said Phelps.

While most of the county's narcotics investigations are in lower
income parts of the county, there are occasional reports from more
affluent communities, he added.

Efforts to reach Surry County Sheriff Harold Brown Friday were
unsuccessful.