3-YEAR DRUG PROBE NEARING END

Multi-State Arrests In Crystal Meth Investigation Include George
County Sheriff's Son

PASCAGOULA - Authorities are in the final stretch of a wide-reaching
drug investigation that has netted more than 35 arrests, including
the son of the George County sheriff.

Operation Scratching Post, as the investigation came to be known,
spanned over five states and drew from the work of more than 40 law
enforcement agencies, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said Saturday
at a press conference.

The three-year investigation, led by a team of state and federal drug
agencies, resulted in the arrests of many of Mississippi's central
figures in crystal methamphetamine production and distribution, Byrd
said.

"This was a huge operation," Byrd said. "And it shows meth dealers
that we're not playing around down here."

Those behind bars include Thomas Dubose, 56, of Lucedale, who was
linked to the production of as much as 100 pounds of crystal meth
from 1999 to 2001, the year of his arrest, Byrd said.

Also arrested last year was James Miller, 26, of Lucedale, who is the
son of George County Sheriff George Miller. The younger Miller stands
accused of operating behind a fake business front to buy large
amounts of chemical agents used in the manufacture of crystal meth,
Byrd said.

The investigation spanned over five states, including California and
Florida, where suppliers would load up on "commercial grade"
narcotics and smuggle the drugs back to Mississippi for local
distribution.

The arrest sheets, and the stories behind them, at times seem more
likely to resemble a Hollywood film script than real life. Among the
cast of characters are a prostitute and four brash Samoans from
California, one of whom later had his prison sentence more than
doubled after making disparaging comments to a state judge, Byrd said.

The sweep began as a local investigation, but soon branched out to
include other states, such as Washington, Alabama and Arizona.

"There were a lot of names that just kept coming up," Byrd said.

In all, the investigation tracked the production and sale of more
than 300 pounds of crystal meth, which held a street value of more
than $13 million, Byrd said.

Some arrests are still pending, but authorities say those targeted
are aware of their fate.

The investigation stalled shortly in late 1999, but two subsequent
arrests of some key George County figures soon "got the ball rolling
again," Byrd said.

Agencies involved with the investigation, which won a national award,
include the HIDTA division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the
Jackson County Narcotics Task Force, the Mississippi Bureau of
Narcotics and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, among
others.