OFFICERS SEIZE HORDE OF PILLS

In the first arrest of its kind in New Hanover County, narcotics officers
this week seized nearly 15,000 pills and jailed a convicted felon they say
was basically running an Internet pharmacy out of his Wilmington home.

James David Hoffman, 38, was arrested Thursday night, and his bail was set
at $2 million after City-County Vice and Narcotics detectives raided his
White Avenue home.

Inside the house, they found thousands of pills - mostly tranquilizers such
as the generic types of codeine, Valium, and Xanax - along with five
computers, a .45-caliber handgun, a police scanner, a stack of credit
cards, a copy of The Pill Book, and scores of empty plastic amber-colored
prescription bottles, ready to be filled.

The total value of all the pills found is $74,600, but there were also
scores of empty bulk pill bottles, the type drug companies use to send
pills to pharmacies. Detectives estimate those bottles once contained
48,800 pills worth $244,000.

Col. Sid Causey of the Sheriff's Department explained that at least two
pharmaceutical companies somehow listed Mr. Hoffman as a legitimate
distributor of prescription drugs and sent the pills to him in bulk, as if
he were a drugstore. Mr. Hoffman is accused of selling the pills over the
Internet to people without prescriptions, Col. Causey said. Federal drug
regulators have been asked to look into the case, he added.

The Web site, www.pillsforyou.com, promises quick home delivery and even
provides fraud protection for credit card purchases.

It also advertises OxyContin for sale, but detectives didn't find any
evidence of the drug in Mr. Hoffman's home. OxyContin is a heavy-duty pain
reliever frequently used for cancer patients. Known as "hillbilly heroin"
for its popularity in rural areas, OxyContin has been linked to a number of
deaths across the country.

Apparently, the Web site did a land office business, as detectives found
mounds of mail return-receipts with addresses from across the country in
Mr. Hoffman's home.

It wasn't the first time Mr. Hoffman had been caught with pills. Col.
Causey said last year, Mr. Hoffman was arrested with 2,000 diazepam -
generic Valium - tablets.

Mr. Hoffman was released from prison in June, according to the N.C.
Department of Correction. His record dates back more than a decade and
lists many convictions, among them assault with a deadly weapon, larceny,
simple assault, receiving stolen goods, drug possession, driving while
impaired, possession of drug paraphernalia, and speeding to elude arrest.

Thursday, Mr. Hoffman was hit with nine new charges, including drug
trafficking and possession, as well as possession of cocaine, which
detectives believe to be Mr. Hoffman's personal drug of choice.

Because of bank transaction records and bloody syringes found in the house,
Col. Causey said they believe Mr. Hoffman has about a $700 per day
intravenous cocaine habit.

City-County Vice and Narcotics Detectives Donald Taft and B.T. Warrelmann
led the investigation. Others may be arrested in connection with the case,
Col. Causey said.