LOCAL DRUG TRADE IS FLOURISHING

Despite 'Newer' Drugs Like Ecstasy And Oxycontin, Law Officials Say
Marijuana And Crack Cocaine Are The Most Popular In Central Carolina

SANFORD - Though narcotics officers in the area are seeing more new drugs
in the area, crack cocaine seems to remain the drug of choice for local
addicts.

"Crack cocaine is still number one, but we've seen a big increase in
methamphetamines, ecstasy and Oxycontin," said Capt. Dan Kehagias, who
heads up the City/County Drug Unit.

Crack is very popular in lower income areas. It offers a quick, intense
high, and sells for about $20 a dose.

According to reports, drug agents have already seized several thousand
dollars worth of crack in the first two months of this year.

Another very popular but inexpensive drug is marijuana. A bust Thursday
that netted ten pounds of marijuana in one place doesn't seem like such a
big deal anymore, according to Kehagias. Last week, 50 pounds of the drug
was seized in Lee County, and Chatham County officials seized more than two
tons of it in one raid in 2000.

Though methamphetamines are not new drugs - they have been around for years
in more urban areas - they seem to being gaining popularity rapidly in Lee
County.

Meth, as it is commonly called, comes in many forms. It can be smoked,
snorted or injected, depending on its form.

It can cause an intense high with feelings of paranoia, hallucinations,
aggressive behavior, increased heart rate, convulsions, extreme rise in
body temperature (as high as 108 degrees which can cause brain damage and
death), uncontrollable movements, insomnia and impaired speech, among other
things.

The drug unit recently seized more than a pound of crystal meth - one of
the most potent forms of methamphetamine - with a street value of $92,000.

The popularity of oxycodone, often know by its brand name Oxycontin, is
also rising rapidly in the area, according to Kehagias.

The drug, which is approved for legal use as a powerful, time-release
pain-killer, is easily abused and gives a heroin-like high when it is
crushed, destroying the time-release coating. Oxycodone is actually a
derivative of heroin, and has been referred to a "hillbilly heroin" because
of its popularity in rural areas, Kehagias said.

The penalties for possessing oxycodone without a prescription are harsh,
since its effects can be deadly. Kehagias said the drug unit has started
charging those selling the drug with trafficking heroin. According to North
Carolina General statute, the charge of trafficking heroin calls for a
mandatory minimum sentence of 70 months in prison and a $50,000 fine for
possession of 4 to 14 grams.

MDMA, commonly called ecstasy, is another drug that has been around for
many years in larger cities. "Ecstasy has been a popular drug in college
towns and places with a lot of night clubs and bars," Kehagias said. "We
don't have that here, but we are starting to see more ecstasy."

A mix between an LSD-like hallucinogen and a cocaine-like amphetamine,
ecstasy provides a long-lasting high, but can have deadly side effects.

Regardless of what the drug is, Kehagias said anyone using or selling
narcotics could find themselves a target of the drug unit. "We don't
concentrate on any specific drugs," he said. "Anyone out there selling,
we're going to bust them."

The unit has been making good on that promise in its more than 15 years of
existence. Last year the unit seized drugs worth an estimated $2,794,937 in
Lee County, a 12 percent increase over the year before, Kehagias said.

The City/County Drug Unit is comprised of seven members, two of which are
funded by the local Alcohol Beverage Control Board. The others are members
of the Sanford Police Department and Lee County Sheriff's Department.

When Billy Bryant was elected sheriff in 1986, he and Sanford Police Chief
Ronnie Yarborough got together and formed the combined drug unit, Kehagias
said.

Nearly 16 years later, it is one of the largest drug units in the area,
Kehagias said, and the only combined city-county unit nearby. The Moore
County Sheriff's office only has two drug officers while Chatham County has
four.

While investigating drug activity, the unit uses several techniques to
catch users and dealers, Kehagias said. Often, confidential informants are
used to make buys from known dealers. Once an informant has made several
buys, agents can use that person's testimony to secure a search warrant for
the seller's property.

Occasionally an undercover drug agent will make buys, but the agents making
the buys in Lee County aren't from the City/County Drug Unit. "We have a
mutual aid agreement with other counties where we'll send an officer there
to do their buys and they'll send an officer here," Kehagias said. "It
pretty much works that way through North Carolina."

Agents also set up what they call "buy busts" where they arrange to buy a
large amount of drugs from a suspected dealer, like the pound of crystal
meth that was seized in January, and arrest the seller as soon as the
transaction is completed, Kehagias said.

The least common type of bust done by the drug unit turns the agents into
dealers. "We actually get them to buy from us, and we bust the buyers,"
Kehagias said. "We don't do that a lot."

As drug use increases in rural areas, like Lee County, Kehagias said, so
will the activities of local narcotics officers. Already in the first two
months of 2002, more than a half a million dollars worth of drugs have been
seized in Lee, Moore and Harnett counties.