COCAINE CLAMPS RESTRICT ACCESS

With Mexican authorities targeting suppliers south of the border and
U.S. agencies stopping smugglers at sea, the flow of cocaine into
America is being squeezed, according to federal officials.

But area police say cocaine is still readily available to those who
know where to look.

"End users can still buy cocaine in Onslow County," said Capt. Rick
Sutherland of the Onslow County Sheriff's Department. "They may have
to go to more than one dealer to find it, but it is out there."

The Office of National Drug Control Policy announced last week that
coordinated efforts between the U.S. and Mexico over the summer have
made a major impact on the cocaine market, driving prices up around
the country. The shortage has driven the nationwide price for cocaine
to the highest level in almost 20 years. The average national cost of
cocaine has increased 24 percent from around $95 to $120 a gram over
a six-month period that ended in June, according to a report by ONDCP.

Right now, the price for a gram of powder cocaine in Onslow County
ranges from $80 to $100, police officials said.

Sutherland said the midlevel dealers are the ones feeling the recent
crunch the most.

"Midlevel traffickers are having trouble buying cocaine in larger
amounts," he said.

When a midlevel drug dealer cannot find a large supply of cocaine,
the dealer's profits are reduced because he or she has to buy several
smaller amounts. And the smaller the amount bought by a dealer, the
smaller the profit during resale, said Chris Cox, a detective in the
Special Operations Division of the Jacksonville Police Department.

"Anything that makes it harder for drug dealers makes it better for
us," Cox said.

A huge three-county drug sting in February - Operation No Boundaries,
in which 100 suspected drug dealers were arrested on 400 felony
charges - hurt the local cocaine market a lot, Cox said.

"But it is a consumer market," he said. "It is like gas prices. When
the dealer has to pay more, the customer pays more and business continues."

Jacksonville police Capt. Gary Dixon said what the federal government
does to affect the flow of cocaine into the country makes large
quantities harder to get, but major operations at a local level, like
Operation No Boundaries, can have a direct, positive effect on the
local community.

Cox said his department continues to work to enforce drug laws on a
local level, just as the federal government works to limit the import
of cocaine and other illegal drugs.

"Whether it's a crack pipe or a kilo, we will continue to work hard
to enforce the law," Cox said.