NARCOTICS CHIEF PROBING TRANSFER OF TWO PLANES

JACKSON, Miss. - The head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics says he is
investigating allegations that two bureau planes were transferred at the
request of a former aide to Sen. Trent Lott.

MBN director Frank Melton said Monday that an internal probe began last
week into the 1999 transfer of a Beechcraft King Air to the Harrison County
Sheriff's Office and the 2000 transfer of a Cessna 206 to the Hancock
County Port and Harbor Commission.

The transfers allegedly were made at the request of Robert Maxwell, an aide
to Lott at the time.

The bureau in the past has auctioned unneeded aircraft, but the transfer of
the Cessna and Beechcraft, valued at about $1 million, were given to the
two agencies, according to a published report by Gannett News Service.

Maxwell, who now works with the Justice Department's Police Corps, said he
would not comment on the investigation. When asked if he arranged the
planes' transfers, he said, "Do you think somebody in my position could
facilitate that?"

Lott (R-Miss.) speaking in Jackson on Monday, said he didn't know about the
two specific transfers, but said it is common practice to designate and
move surplus state property to law enforcement agencies.

"We've done that in a number of instances in the past and it's always been
done by the book," Lott said.

Melton, who was appointed MBN director in December, said he picked Roy
Sandefer, a senior agent in the bureau, to lead the investigation into
whether the transfers were proper.

"If there were any criminal acts or any laws have been violated, somebody
should go to jail," Melton said.

The probe came about during an investigation into the 186th Air Refueling
Wing, an Air National Guard Unit at Key Field in Meridian, where the planes
were kept.

The 186th is being investigated for the second time in two years for
allegations that include coercion, racism and record falsification. A U.S.
Air Force Inspector General report completed in December led to the
dismissal of the unit's commander. The current probe is headed by Col. Ken
Emmanuel, a Florida Air National Guard staff judge advocate.

Melton said the two investigations are separate.

"We're just doing this internally. I want to find out exactly what the
bureau did," he said.

Mississippi National Guard officials could not be reached for comment on Monday.