WARRANT: ECSTASY DISTRIBUTED AT RAVE CLUB

Club Audio manager Neal Nance denied the allegations and said he's worked
with police on the problem of drug dealing.

Federal authorities claim that ecstasy and other drugs were distributed
openly at a Roanoke nightclub that caters to the rave party crowd.

Drugs, drug paraphernalia and cash were seized during a March 9 raid of Club
Audio on Salem Turnpike Northwest, according to a search warrant unsealed
Monday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.

According to the warrant, as many as 4,000 ecstasy tablets a night were
distributed at the club. Based on information from informants, Drug
Enforcement Administration agents believe that methamphetamine, ketamine,
cocaine and other drugs were also available at the club.

No federal charges have been filed to date involving the raid, said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Wolthuis, who declined to comment further.

For the past two years, DEA agents have been investigating "all-night
techno-style parties, catered to teenagers and young adults" who frequent
the club, the search warrant stated.

At least one person has been arrested on state charges of distributing drugs
inside Club Audio, according to the warrant. That person, who was not
identified in the warrant, has since provided information to investigators
about other drug deals.

The warrant claims that Neal Nance, the club manager, and several DJs openly
distributed drugs inside the club and that Nance was at the heart of an
organization that imported drugs into the business.

Nance denied the allegations Tuesday. "I haven't been charged with
anything," he said.

He said that whenever he became aware of drug use in his club, the offenders
were ejected. He also said he had been trying to work with Roanoke police on
the problem of drug dealing in the club's parking lot. There have been no
shows at Club Audio since the night of the raid, Nance said, because all of
his cash was seized by federal agents.

"It's killed our business," he said.

Rave parties usually involve elaborate light shows and high-energy,
electronic dance music. Followers of the scene have been called "the flower
children of the new millennium."

A promotional flier for Red Dawn, the featured act at Club Audio on the
night of the DEA raid, described a "deep dark intensity industrial dream
sequence that funks its way through a mechanized wonderland."

In 2000, an entertainment company operated by Nance became embroiled in
controversy, lawsuits and demands for ticket refunds after plans for a huge
rave in North Carolina fell through.

Nance said he has had a good relationship with Roanoke police in the past.

But according to the warrant, police were called to the club 40 times from
between January 2001 and February of this year. Most of the calls involved
drugs and loud music complaints from parties that can last until 6 a.m.