Pubdate: Sat, 06 Nov 2004
Source: Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
Copyright: 2004 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.charleston.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567
Author: Andre Bowser
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

LONG PRISON SENTENCES HIGHLIGHT ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS

North Charleston Targets Cocaine Suppliers

The video surveillance system that once trolled the surroundings of a 
nondescript ranch-style home on Ranger Drive in North Charleston no longer 
monitors the street for police.

The drug supplier who lived in the house and flooded the neighborhood with 
cocaine is now in federal prison serving close to seven years.

His was a light sentence. Some of the suppliers received more than 20 years.

North Charleston police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration 
announced this week the sentences of 19 of the city's mid-to upper-level 
cocaine suppliers, originating from arrests made during a 2002, pre-dawn 
drug raid.

While law enforcement agencies say cutting off the drug supply to embattled 
communities affects demand and reduces incidents of violent crime, the word 
on the street is that there is always someone waiting in the wings to 
contribute to the drug problem.

Project Integrated Drug Enforcement Assistance, started by the DEA in 2002, 
joined local law enforcement officers with federal agents to battle the 
drug problem on its highest level: suppliers.

After an eight-month-long operation, the DEA moved on to other troubled 
cities, leaving in its wake an ongoing relationship between the North 
Charleston Police Department and the Charleston DEA field office.

During the raid, teams of police hit more than 20 homes in the 
neighborhoods of Chicora/Cherokee, Union Heights, Dorchester/Waylyn, 
Accabee and Charleston Farms.

Capt. Reggie Burgess, head of North Charleston's special operations unit, 
said he was a lieutenant back when his department sought to dam up the 
river of drugs flowing into the community.

"I grew up in North Charleston, attended its schools and still have family 
here," Burgess said. "This is my neighborhood, and my department wanted to 
claim it back."

His department partnered with the federal authorities to beef up their 
combat against drug networks and to secure stiffer sentences for drug 
offenders.

To Burgess, far too many violent crimes were happening in connection with 
drugs.

During the early morning hours of Aug. 19, 2002, about 100 state, county, 
city and federal law enforcement officers spread out across the city to 
make the arrests. Investigators had made multiple purchases leading up to 
the raids, building what they considered would be an air-tight case against 
local drug wholesalers.

North Charleston Detective Greg Gomes, who currently is assigned to a DEA 
drug task force, said he vividly recalls the morning of the raid.

"We met at the North Charleston Coliseum, at a staging area. We did our 
homework, and we were confident that the suspects would be at the 
locations," said Gomes, who listed participating agencies as the DEA, 
Charleston County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 
Firearms, and the North Charleston Police Department.

Gomes said the data in selecting locations and choosing targets was fueled 
by heavy drug call complaints, which highlighted critical areas in the 
community. From there, he said, all officers had to do was wait and watch 
the suppliers.

Assistant 9th Circuit Solicitor Mark Bourdon said federal charges were more 
desirous against the 19 drug suppliers. He said mandatory minimum sentences 
only come into play on the state level for second-time offenders.

"For first-time offenders, it's not mandatory to serve a minimum sentence 
for simple drug possession," Bourdon said. "In the state system, offenders 
are counted by their criminal records and their drug arrests."

Burgess said many cocaine suppliers had no criminal records, making the 
federal road an easier course at getting them off the streets.

In federal court, Bourdon said, mandatory minimum sentences get meted out 
for most offenses involving drugs and come with the stiff guideline that 
offenders must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

With the DEA supplying over $50,000 for drugs and information, Gomes said, 
undercover officers were able to access drug deals of considerable sizes, 
which merited lengthy federal sentences.

"We bought from these guys in January and arrested them in August," Gomes 
said. "We just kept them on the shelves" to build the cases.

Identifying the largest suppliers was simple, said Sgt. Karen Cordray, a 
North Charleston intelligence officer. They left a paper trail paved with 
dirty money.

Cordray, who accumulated data for the crackdown, said she compiled 
information on the drug suppliers and parlayed it into an intricate 
flowchart of illicit drug activity.

"We identified the players and targeted the neighborhoods they operated 
in," Cordray said. "One of the goals of the project was to see a clean drop 
in violent crimes involving drugs."

Cordray said the department had its reasons.

In 2003, federal cocaine seizures in South Carolina reached 194.2 
kilograms, according to the DEA, and crimes related to drugs were too 
numerous to list.

Kathy McClelland, a worker with the Palmetto Low Country Behavioral Health 
clinic in North Charleston, hedged that it is hard to tell if there has 
been a drop in the cocaine cases.

"It permeates throughout society, and it's not in one social economic 
group," she said.

Cocaine, McClelland said, digs roots into communities: "And the important 
thing to remember is that crack cocaine is not just a drug for the poor 
anymore."

Randy Santana, of Positive Feedback Professional Counseling Associates in 
North Charleston, said he has not seen a street-level effect from locking 
the cocaine suppliers behind bars.

"If we didn't have a war on drugs, I'm sure the problem would be 
quadrupled," he said. "But I haven't seen a noticeable drop in cocaine use. 
It's an epidemic throughout the area, especially crack cocaine."

But Burgess said the sentences finally may cause a dent in the drug network 
plaguing North Charleston.

Determining the impact of decreasing the supply will take time, he said. 
"We targeted the people who supply the drugs to the guys out on the street. 
We put a dent in the supply," Burgess said. "We may finally see a drop in 
violent crimes related to drugs, but we won't know for certain until next year."
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