Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310131
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
One man hid under his cap and waved a middle finger as a news crew filmed.
About 30 police officers were looking for 45 people Monday in Montgomery County's annual drug sweep. All told, there were 91 charges.
The roundup began at 6:30 a.m., the culmination of a nine-month investigation by the Montgomery County Drug Task Force.
Most of the arrests involved felony distribution of marijuana charges, although there were people charged with distributing crack cocaine and LSD, said Blacksburg Chief Bill Brown.
Other related charges included possession of firearms while possessing cocaine, possessing a weapon while a convicted felon and possessing police radios, or scanners, while committing a felony. A Montgomery County grand jury returned the charges Wednesday.
Brown said investigation involved $15,000 worth of narcotics. Task force members also seized one rifle, one semiautomatic handgun and five police scanners.
The investigation, and the number of people charged, sends a message to police, Brown said.
"This indicates to us there's a lot of work to be done by the task force," he said.
Unlike last year's roundup, which concentrated on crack cocaine and specifically on open-air markets at Blacksburg apartments, this year's bust was a countywide investigation.
"We know that some of the people indicted sold to each other," Brown said.
The ages of the adults arrested ranged from 20 to 57. Two teen-agers were charged with distributing marijuana. "Some of these people you've seen before," Brown said, while others were first-timers. Tech Police Chief Mike Jones said there were no Tech students arrested.
Most people indicted had one to four charges. But a Blacksburg man netted 13 charges.
Alfred Junior Custer, 55, of Blacksburg, was charged with two counts each of distributing marijuana, possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony, possessing a police scanner while committing a felony, possessing a firearm while possessing cocaine and possessing of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Custer also was charged with single counts of distributing cocaine, selling a firearm to a known felon and possessing cocaine with intent to distribute.
According to a search warrant filed in the Montgomery County Clerk's Office in July, task force members targeted Custer for marijuana and cocaine violations in June. An unnamed informant told a task force member that marijuana and crack cocaine was seen in Custer's apartment and pickup truck, according to information filed with the search warant.
During a search of the apartment and truck, the task force said it seized rocks of crack cocaine, bags of marijuana, just over $1,200 in cash, three portable scanners, a .22-caliber rifle and other items police identified as drug paraphernalia, such as rolling papers, water bongs, plastic sandwich bags and scales.
The task force identified its suspects from video and audio surveillance, using informants and undercover law enforcement officers, Brown said.
Most of the investigations took place under the supervision of Special Agent Lynn Roach, a Virginia State Police employee who was the task force's coordinator. Roach died Sept. 10 after a motorcycle accident in Franklin County.
Some of the tips that led to the indictments came from citizens who used the task force's drug hot line number, 382-2291, to report suspected drug activity, police said.
The Montgomery County Drug Task Force is made up of members of the Virginia State Police, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Virginia Tech police departments.
by CNB