
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 13, 1990                   TAG: 9003133258
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DRUG AGENTS ARREST 7/ WEEKEND SWEEP INCLUDES CRACK DEALERS' NEW AREAS

At least seven people were arrested on drug charges over the weekend as teams of drug agents continued a sweep through Roanoke.

Police began the arrests last week in a renewed offensive against crack cocaine and new problem areas where the drug is often sold.

Thirty-three people have been arrested so far, and more charges are expected, Police Chief M. David Hooper said Monday.

While most of the arrests have been for cocaine dealing, police have also filed marijuana and heroin charges.

William Alton Waller, 36, of the 1000 block of Primrose Street Southeast, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Police found 18 pounds of marijuana in Waller's car after he was stopped Friday night at Second Street and Woods Avenue Southwest.

Waller was arrested after an investigation by U.S. Postal Service authorities determined that the marijuana had been shipped into Roanoke, police said. The marijuana was packaged in cardboard boxes.

Police also arrested a Bronx, N.Y., man who was selling T-shirts along Orange Avenue and Williamson Road in conjunction with a concert Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center.

Michael O'Neill, 21, was charged with possession of marijuana after police first charged him with selling T-shirts without a license.

Other arrests over the weekend occurred in the 800 block of Hunt Avenue Northwest and the area of Fifth Street and Harrison Avenue - two areas where open-air sales of crack cocaine have increased in recent months.

The most recent sweep - which comes after a major offensive last summer that state, local and federal authorities dubbed Operation Caribbean Sunset - is aimed at areas where displaced drug dealers and users have moved since the initial crackdown.

Nineteen people were charged in sealed indictments last week in Roanoke Circuit Court, and more arrests are expected as police track down those indicted by the grand jury, execute search warrants and conduct street arrests.

by CNB