THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 12, 1995 TAG: 9504120440
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Sheriff Randy Cartwright went down the drain over the weekend and emerged flushed with success.
Cartwright and a couple of his deputies heard tattletale toilet gurgles Sunday when they entered a trailer in the 1100 block of Northside Road on a drug raid.
``We recovered a little over $5,000 in cash and some drug paraphernalia inside the trailer, so we decided that because of the bathroom flushing sounds we'd better dig up the drain to see if any more evidence was down there,'' said Cartwright.
A plumber and members of the New Providence Volunteer Fire Department were called in to assist and, sure enough, the sheriff said, he found 48 grams of narcotics worth ``more than $10,000 on the street'' in the sewer line.
``Some of the crack was in Baggies and some loose,'' the Pasquotank County officer said, adding that it was the first time he had ever pulled the plug to gather evidence.
Cartwright said the raid followed lengthy surveillance and previous evidence collected at the premises. Several ``customers'' called on the telephone while the search warrant was being executed, he said.
Booked on narcotics charges were George Harvey, 48, and Cheryl Ownley White, 24, the occupants of the trailer. A 1984 Corvette was also confiscated.
The occupants were taken before a magistrate and released on bond, Cartwright said.
``Harvey was out within an hour on $12,000 bond,'' the sheriff said, ``and he then arranged bond for White.'' The bond for White was set at $6,000, according to courthouse records.
A probable cause hearing was set for April 24.
KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST COCAINE CRACK
by CNB