DRUG BUSTS SLOWING TRADE

CLINTON -- The Sampson County Sheriff's Office saw drug seizures rise
by more than $7million from 2004 to 2005.

And this year, officers grabbed $20 million in cocaine in one
incident. The rising drug amounts reflected in the increased value of
seizures is an indicator of the county's persistent drug problem,
Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said. Deputies recovered $1 million worth of
marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines in 2004. The amount
skyrocketed to $8.8 million last year. So far this year, agents have
uncovered three meth labs and seized 440 pounds of cocaine in one of
the largest arrests in county history. The street value of the
cocaine was estimated at $20 million. Two men were charged with
trafficking the drug by possession.

Court records say the men were carrying the cocaine in a 1997 Ford
Ranger. The drugs were confiscated Jan. 23 along Edmond Matthis Road,
a rural road in southern Sampson County.

Investigators are not releasing details in the case. On Feb. 9,
deputies raided a home on Jeanette Lane near Godwin where they seized
$561 worth of marijuana and charged two people who live in the house
with intent to sell and make the drug.

Breeding ground Sampson County has become a hotbed for drug activity,
Thornton said, and he wants it stopped because drugs breed other
crimes such as break-ins and robberies. The number of robberies,
especially, has increased, he said. "I think that we are seeing more
violence now," the sheriff said, "whereas before I don't know that we
had that much." The amounts are alarming, he said, but the figures
also show law enforcement's commitment to battling the drug problem.
The Sheriff's Office often teams with the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration, the State Bureau of Investigation, the state Highway
Patrol and surrounding sheriff's offices to build cases against drug dealers.

"They've all shared in this," Thornton said. "We didn't do it without
help." Emmett Highland, resident agent in charge with the DEA office
in Wilmington, said the state in general has experienced an increase
in drug trafficking because the population has grown.

Highland said state, federal and local agencies have combined their
resources to target the larger drug dealers. By doing so, they are
able to seize bigger amounts of drugs.

Cocaine is the top drug that is being trafficked in southeastern
North Carolina, he said. The state is not only a destination for the
drug, the DEA Web site said, but a distribution point for northern
states on the East Coast. Statewide, the number of federal cocaine
seizures rose from 275 pounds in 2003 to 862 pounds in 2004.

Sampson County belongs to a DEA task force of local and federal
officers. Over the past year, the task force has made significant
seizures that have hurt the drug trade in the southeastern part of
the state, Highland said. "We've had some great successes over the
last 18 months or so," he said. The seizure of the 440 pounds of
cocaine in January has been one of the biggest in the region,
Highland said. He would not discuss details of that case but said it
is an indicator of what law enforcement agencies are facing "I think
people have to wake up and realize that we've got a serious problem,"
Thornton said.

Thornton attributes the increase in drug seizures to better
cooperation and coordination with local, state and federal agencies
and his office's philosophy for vigorously targeting drug dealers.

Interstate connection Chief Deputy John Conerly said Sampson County
is an easy target for drug dealers because it is rural and because of
its proximity to Interstates 40 and 95. Interstate 40 runs through
the eastern part of the county and has exits near Newton Grove. I-95
meets I-40 in Johnston County near the Sampson County line.

The county has 500,000 miles of paved highways, which makes it
appealing to drug traffickers who want to travel undetected on back
roads. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the
production, trafficking and use of illegal drugs is a growing problem
in rural counties. A 1997 report on the issue says that "growing
competition and effective law enforcement efforts" in cities have
forced drug dealers and producers into remote areas where they can
avoid being seen and the competition is less hostile. Law
enforcement's best weapon against them, Conerly said, has been
anonymous tipsters. People report suspicious activity in their
neighborhoods and investigators follow those leads.

"We need those tips," he said, "to point us in the right direction."