POLICE: DRUGS ROOT OF MOST OTHER CRIME

A Summersville man's charred body was found late last month, and State
Police believe he was shot and burned over a disputed drug deal.

Just like this incident, drugs are at the root of most crimes, according to
police and prosecutors.

Kenneth Michael Belknap, 54, and his son, James Roy Belknap, 19, of
Leivasy, were jailed on first-degree murder and kidnapping charges in the
death of 24-year-old Richard Parnell.

Ron Booker is commander of the TRIDENT drug task force. Addicts, he said,
will constantly shoplift and steal and then sell or trade the stolen items
for drugs.

Worse yet, violence tends to be at the heart of the drug world. Dealers are
often people with violent tendencies who use weapons to ensure their drugs
and money are not taken from them or to intimidate others into not turning
them in to police, he said.

"The drug culture itself is one that produces a violent atmosphere," he
said. "It's a game where firearms are the tools of the trade."

"... (Dealers) feel they have to have a tough guy image. Otherwise, someone
else is going to take their turf, take their drugs or money. .. And they
feel they have to settle things themselves."

Sgt. Gant Montgomery, a detective with the Beckley Police Department's drug
unit, said about 80 percent of all crimes relate to drugs. The majority of
those committing breaking and entering or shoplifting are doing so to get
money to feed their habits. Like Booker, he agreed that drugs are often the
root of violent crimes as well.

The surprising fact about the Nicholas County case for Montgomery was that
Parnell was allegedly killed because of a $350 drug deal. Usually, he said,
most drug crimes that turn violent involve much larger amounts of drugs
and/or money.

"But if you're dealing with someone who's under the influence, you never
know," he said.

The court system is often loaded to the brink with not only those accused
of drug crimes, but others where drugs are linked. Raleigh County assistant
prosecutor Thomas MacAulay said those accused of forgery, credit card fraud
and grand larceny are often wanting to support drug habits.

"We've handled a number of shootings in which a drug deal has gone bad," he
added.

Besides those under the influence, addicts - particularly those using
harder drugs like cocaine and heroin - needing a fix are also dangerous,
Montgomery said. They often become agitated, doing things they would never
normally do. A methamphetamine high will last seven to eight hours, but one
for crack cocaine normally lasts only 15 to 20 minutes. When the short high
is gone, an addict will want more.

Stimulant drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, Booker said, increase
a user's super ego - and urge to fight. Paranoia is another side effect.
During the "crash phase," when users lose their highs, they become
depressed, agitated and short-tempered.

"I have seen it happen," Montgomery said. "They'll often commit robberies,
trying to get $100 or $200 to get a fix and hold an innocent victim at
gunpoint."

Often, the innocent victims of violent drug users or dealers are family
members - even children.

If someone dies or goes to prison as the result of a drug or drug-related
crime, a family member is lost, Booker said. TRIDENT has investigated
several cases where a drug user abuses and neglects children and battles
with other family members.

Those charged with domestic violence are often under the influence when the
crime is committed, MacAulay said.

Drug use and dealing often become family traditions.

The stages of addiction, Booker said, are experimentation, misuse and
abuse, then full-blown addiction. The abuse of pharmaceutical drugs -
particularly opiate-based drugs and ones like oxycodone - among young
people has surged in recent years, Booker said. Several young people have
often overdosed on these drugs, often by combining them with alcohol.

"If parents are using drugs and selling drugs around the children all the
time, the children grow up thinking there's nothing wrong with that," he
said. "I've been working these cases for 14 years, and I've seen
generations of families involved with drugs. Basically, the children often
follow in their parents' footsteps."