STREET-LEVEL DEALERS SWEPT UP

New Program's First Big Crackdown

HAZARD - A new program aimed at stemming street-level drug dealing in
Southern and Eastern Kentucky yesterday began one of the largest drug
roundups in state history.

Operation UNITE had indictments or warrants charging 211 people in eight
counties in the Hazard area with trafficking in prescription pills,
methadone and other drugs. As a full moon slid behind the hills at 7 a.m.,
dozens of local, state and federal law officers fanned out to roust alleged
drug dealers from their beds. By midafternoon, officers had arrested 115
people in the eight-county area.

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers lauded the show of cooperation by police agencies and
promised more arrests as UNITE expands efforts.

"This is only the first assault against illegal drug dealers," Rogers,
R-Somerset, said at a news conference. "Eastern and Southern Kentucky will
no longer be a friendly environment to push drugs."

Rogers, who said the 5th District has been ravaged by deaths and damage
caused by drug abuse, got $8 million in federal funding last year to create
UNITE, which stands for Unlawful Narcotics Investigation, Treatment and
Education. Rogers got another $8 million in federal funding for the program
this year.

Rogers said he sought funding for the program after reading a series of
articles in the Herald-Leader in early 2003 called "Prescription for Pain,"
about the drug-abuse problem in Eastern and Southern Kentucky.

Among other things, the newspaper reported that Eastern Kentucky led the
nation in the amount of painkillers per capita that reach legal outlets
such as drug stores, increasing the potential for illegal diversion; that
police were shorthanded; and that there was a shortage of treatment.

UNITE is in the process of hiring more than 30 investigators to work in
three task forces. The Kentucky River task force, headquartered in Hazard,
was the first to get its officers on board and began investigations in January.

Since then, officers have opened 198 criminal cases and seized more than
1,700 illegal pills. Yesterday was UNITE's first large-scale drug roundup.

The goal was to send a message to drug dealers and raise community
awareness, said Karen Engle, executive director of Operation UNITE, and
law-enforcement director Dan Smoot.

"We're very serious," Smoot said.

More than 90 of the people charged in yesterday's roundup were in Perry
County. Officers brought suspects to the Rural Law Enforcement Technology
Center in Hazard, where they waited in seats numbered to match their arrest
packets before being fingerprinted and taken to jail.

One woman was wearing what looked like a housecoat. Another wept as
officers led her from her small frame house in handcuffs; later, while she
was waiting to go to jail, officers found four methadone pills on her and
added a possession charge to her trafficking charge, said state police
Detective Chris Fugate.

Lt. Gov. Steve Pence said at a news conference held during the roundup that
for parents, "it's a day like today that you're wondering, did these law
enforcement officers who risked their lives, did they save my child today
from running into one of these ... drug pushers?"

UNITE focuses on street-level drug dealers because other agencies such as
state police and the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task
forces focus on larger dealers and organizations, Engle said.

"These individuals that we're targeting are selling a lot of drugs," in
their neighborhoods, Engle said. "It's been open season and it's just
become part of the economy."

The U.S. attorney's office has provided money for extra prosecutors to help
handle an expected increase in cases under the program.

But concerns over the need for more judges and public defenders to make
sure the courts don't bog down have not been resolved.

As the name indicates, UNITE is also aimed at providing more education
against substance abuse and at increasing treatment for addicts, primarily
through expanded use of drug courts. In those courts, non-violent offenders
undergo drug tests and receive intensive substance-abuse counseling and
increased supervision as an alternative to jail.

Engle said UNITE is making progress in its various initiatives.

Directors have been hired for the three law-enforcement task forces --
former state police captains Mike Luttrell for the Kentucky River and Paul
Hays for the Cumberland, and retired FBI supervisor Scott Barker for the
Big Sandy -- and two have begun investigations. The Big Sandy task force
will begin investigations by May 1, Rogers said.

In addition, drug courts have been set up so far in 20 of the 29 UNITE
counties, and the program has held a meeting in every county to develop
community coalitions that will handle education efforts, Engle said.

Most of UNITE's budget the first year went for law enforcement, but in
coming years, treatment programs could get a bigger share of the pie.