DRUG BUST A LUCKY CATCH

If a routine police patrol turns up 14 pounds of cocaine just by
chance, how much of the stuff is getting into - and through -
Durham? Of course nobody knows, but the inference from an incident
Friday night in the Kroger parking lot on Hillsborough Road is - plenty.

The 6.5 kilos of cocaine (about 14.3 pounds) confiscated by police had
an estimated street value of $300,000. That's a tidy sum for
distributors along the drug pipeline from Colombia. Durham police
arrested three people after they noticed some men apparently trying to
break into a pickup truck. Others in a nearby SUV were watching, and
police suspected they had a connection to the break-in.

What turned up were small packets of cocaine hidden inside bags of dog
food in the back of the SUV. Drug-sniffing dogs weren't fooled by the
food or by an oily substance on the cocaine.

The accidental drug bust ranks as one of the city's largest. It
provides a glimpse into the magnitude of the drug trade in Durham,
including its transshipment along interstate highways.

Coming upon an unknown stash of cocaine is a matter of luck. We would
prefer to see the Durham Police Department make some of its own luck
with a round-the-clock drug offensive. As the Friday bust showed,
Durham still has a drug habit.