With $349,000 in hand, the Rowan County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has a promise of more money to come from the breakup of a nationwide drug ring. A top regional U.S. Customs official met recently with members of the local ABC board and staff to deliver a check. And Jeff Jordan, resident agent in charge of the Charlotte Customs office, praised the work of the ABC law enforcement division, which includes agents Ray Shuler and Robert Boswell Jr. Customs officials nominated Boswell for a national award he will receive next month for his work which resulted in what has been termed the largest drug bust and cash seizure in state history. [continues 419 words]
LANDIS - If all goes well, residents here may never see the police department's newest tool. Police now have the latest model of the M-16 rifle, the standard military issue weapon which can fire hundreds of rounds per minute. Police Chief Charlie Childers got nine of the automatic weapons through a federal-state grant program. "We're not going to be outgunned," said Childers on Wednesday. Why does a small town police department with an almost non-existent crime rate need M-16s? [continues 263 words]
GREENSBORO - Three ranking officers in the Davidson County Sheriff's Department are among six people facing federal charges of distributing cocaine and marijuana and other illegal substances for more than a year. U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner announced today the arrests following indictments returned by a federal grand jury in Greensboro on Friday. Those arrested include David Scott Woodall, 34, a lieutenant with the Davidson County Sheriff's Department; and Douglas Edward Westmoreland, 49, and William Monroe Rankin, 32, both Davidson sheriff's sergeants. [continues 225 words]
A well-known local probation officer has been charged with four counts of trafficking cocaine after the State Bureau of Investigation said it caught the officer in a sting operation in Stanly County. Calvin Suber Jr., 43, of 710 Spencer Ave., Spencer, was being held today in the Stanly County jail under $200,000 bond facing multiple felony drug charges. Suber has been an employee of the N.C. Department of Corrections since 1982. SBI agents arrested Suber and Daren Fitzgerald Bennett, 30, of 228 Winter St., shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday night. [continues 341 words]
