JOHN LAW IS WATCHING YOU

Banner Viewpoint

Last year, residents of the Cora area came forward to ask for help.

First, they contacted The Logan Banner, about getting some coverage of just
how bad the drug problem was in that community. Most people would not
believe it without seeing it.

Shootings in broad daylight over drug rip-offs, crack addicts roaming
around like zombies in a horror film and prostitutes crawling all over the
place, like some 21st century version of Dante's Inferno.

Several residents and community activists in Cora then went to a a meeting
of the Logan County Commission and asked for local and state assistance in
cleaning up the community, which became a haven for drugs following the
flight of elderly residents who once lived there. These community leaders
also stepped up and sought out assistance from law enforcement.

The community of Cora should never have been allowed to degenerate into a
drug haven. Somewhere in the past, somebody made a mistake and decided to
try and keep the drug activity in the county there, which meant the good
folks who lived there suffered. The drugs never stayed there.

Every day and night, expensive vehicles from other more wealthy parts of
town ran in and out of Cora purchasing drugs, and fueling a crime problem
all over the county.

Following an ongoing investigation involving videotape surveillance,
undercover buys, assistance from cooperating individuals, the US Attorneys
office announced that 23 people busted in Cora for drugs had entered guilty
pleas.

The lesson is clear. If you are dealing in Cora, sooner or later you will
be busted. Your clients are snitching you out. Some of your best customers
are undercover cops who are building a case log on you, and you are
probably starring in a surveillance video. John Law is watching.