Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502270040
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Task force members and assisting law enforcement officers began rounding up 23 people at 6 a.m. Friday, three days after the county's grand jury returned 35 drug indictments ranging from misdemeanor possession of marijuana to felony distribution of crack cocaine.
The indictments were the culmination of six months of work by the task force, during which small amounts of drugs were either purchased in undercover buys or seized during traffic stops or searches authorized by warrants.
Some of those charged may have been working together, but the majority of the indictments are for individual actions "on the part of the drug dealers," said Dave Dean, an assistant special agent in charge with the Virginia State Police.
The task force spent several thousand dollars in the buys, usually purchasing $50 to $100 small "rocks" of crack cocaine.
Nineteen of the indictments were for misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests, while 16 involved felony distribution or possession charges.
"The public had a lot to do with the direction of this investigation," Dean said. Citizen complaints led police to certain people, but the investigation was not centered in a particular neighborhood like last year. Targets came from all over Pulaski and nearby counties such as Wythe and Roanoke, police said.
Task force members encouraged the public to continue to support their efforts by calling law enforcement agencies with tips.
At daybreak Friday, 16 officers, including SWAT team members and dog handlers, fanned out across the county and beyond to round up the suspects. By 11 a.m., officers had brought 17 of the 23 people to the magistrate's office to post bond. Their first appearances in Pulaski County Circuit Court will be next month.
Some of the indictments include firearms charges against people who were armed while allegedly dealing cocaine, Dean said. "We're very much interested in stopping that activity."
The task force operates through grant money, financial support from each department in the organization and profits from the sale of vehicles and other property seized in the busts. "We hope to use this as a foundation for more grant money," to continue the drug investigations, said Pulaski County Sheriff Ralph Dobbins.
The drug task force is made up of members of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office, Dublin and Pulaski town police departments, the Virginia State Police and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.
by CNB