NARCOTICS BUREAU BLOWS WHISTLE

State auditor should pursue investigation vigorously. An internal
investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics has turned up a
potential scandal that it claims runs all the way to the office of U.S.
Sen. Trent Lott.

Now in the hands of State Auditor Phil Bryant, the findings need to be
vigorously and independently examined, either to exonerate those implicated
or to pursue reimbursement for the misuse of state property and possibly
criminal charges.

The investigation accuses a former Narcotics Bureau official, Robert Earl
Pierce, of arranging for the transfer of two agency planes, valued at about
$1 million combined, to local authorities in Hancock County. The transfers,
the report said, were intended to help Pierce, who was jockeying for a
federal narcotics job in Mississippi, curry favor with Lott's office. One
of the planes was allegedly intended for the personal use of Robbie
Maxwell, a former Lott top aide who now heads the U.S. Justice Department's
Police Corps.

Pierce has denied the charges. Maxwell has declined to comment.

The Narcotics Bureau's internal investigation, ordered by its new
no-nonsense director, Frank Melton, also turned up the theft of state
property, including seized guns, and the falsification of overtime records.

Melton has handed Bryant a potential powder keg. Let's see what the state
auditor, who has earned a reputation as a straight shooter himself, does
with it.