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

DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994                   TAG: 9411180106
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FRANKLIN COUNTY SWEEP YIELDS 25 DRUG ARRESTS

A year of surveillance and undercover work by local and state authorities in Franklin County resulted Thursday morning in the arrest of 25 people on a total of 40 drug charges.

"This was a very successful operation," said Franklin County Sheriff W.Q. Overton. "We arrested street dealers we've been trying to catch for some time."

A team of nearly 40 officers from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, the Rocky Mount Police and State Police began knocking on doors and arresting people at 5:30 a.m., according to Lt. Ewell Hunt of the Sheriff's Office.

By 10:30 a.m., all but five of the arrests had been made, Hunt said. All of the arrests were made without incident.

"It went very smooth," said Hunt. "We arrested more than we expected to in the first day."

Most of the arrests were in the Rocky Mount area. One took place at the Sans Souci apartments in Roanoke County, Hunt said.

All but five of the 40 charges were felonies, and more than half involved crack or powder cocaine. The rest were marijuana-related.

According to Overton, more arrests are expected.

by CNB