ARRESTS CONTINUE IN DRUG OPERATION

GRAHAM -- Last fall's drug sales investigation in Alamance County high
schools has led authorities to charge 30 people for drug-related offenses.

Authorities say those sought Wednesday had supplied drugs to some of
the students arrested in February, though the new charges were for
separate undercover drug purchases unrelated to the school buys.

The latest drug probe came out of interviews and follow-up
investigations from the schools operation, said Randy Jones, spokesman
for the Alamance County Sheriff's Office.

"That was our intent from Day One," he said.

Some parents and family members of the students arrested earlier had
criticized authorities for charging students with felonies for
peddling small amounts of drugs, mostly marijuana, and not going after
the drug dealers who supplied them.

Those whom authorities began rounding up Wednesday are believed to be
those higher-level dealers, Jones said.

"They should've done that to start with instead of picking on our
kids," said Ron Graves, whose son Kevin was arrested at Eastern
Alamance High School.

Anita Davis, whose stepson Andrew Davis was arrested at Williams High
School during Operation Safe Schools, had mixed feelings Wednesday
about the situation, but she's glad investigators pursued drug dealers
beyond the schools.

"Of course that's better for all concerned in the community," she
said. "I know it's an ongoing problem."

Last fall, at school administrators' request, the sheriff's office and
local police departments placed youthful looking officers in every
Alamance County high school. Fifty students, plus several who weren't,
were arrested in the undercover operation. Virtually all of them
pleaded guilty in deals with prosecutors. One student who argued he
had been entrapped was found guilty and sentenced to five months in
prison.

The arrests drew national attention because Eastern Alamance's star
basketball player, JamesOn Curry, was arrested. He had been recruited
to UNC-Chapel Hill, but after pleading guilty the scholarship offer
was withdrawn. He's since signed to play at Oklahoma State.

About 5 a.m. Wednesday, authorities started arresting those charged in
the latest probe, dubbed Operation Spring Clean 2004. By midafternoon,
21 of the 31 suspects had been arrested by sheriff's deputies, state
Alcohol Law Enforcement officers and police from Burlington, Graham,
Mebane and Elon University.

The 31 people face 130 charges, most of them drug related. One person
in the roundup was charged only with driving while having his driver's
license revoked. Jones didn't know what his connection was to drug
sales.

Those who hadn't been bailed out were being held in the Alamance
County jail; their first court appearances are scheduled for today.

Among those charged Wednesday is Jeffrey Moore Tullai, 17, of 2816
Saxapahaw-Bethlehem Church Road in Graham. Tullai was arrested in
February after the earlier drug probe, but wasn't a student.

Tullai was charged Wednesday with selling marijuana to an undercover
officer Dec. 12 and Dec. 30. His previous arrest dealt with selling
Valium and breaking into a medical clinic.

The undercover drug purchases that led to Wednesday's arrests began
last October, in the middle of Operation Safe Schools, and continued
through the winter and spring, with the most recent buy taking place
May 6. The undercover officers who made the buys were different from
those sent into the high schools, Jones said.

One of the buys took place Feb. 4, the day authorities began arresting
students in the earlier probe. Several more drug purchases occurred
the next two days. The cases involved cocaine and marijuana.

"We don't have enough money to buy all the dope we could out there,"
Jones said.

More arrests could come as detectives chase down leads.

"This operation is not over yet," Jones said. "We're seeking to move
on to the next level."