THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200444
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
State and local law enforcement officials said Tuesday that a four-month investigation shows that Dare County's drug culture has a direct link to Hampton Roads.
Pat Forbis, an assistant supervisor for North Carolina's Alcohol Law Enforcement, said the investigation revealed a sophisticated network of street-level dealers, drug lieutenants and kingpins whose supply of narcotics comes from Virginia.
In the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, officers from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies raided homes from Manteo to Hatteras to Kill Devil Hills.
``The information that we have been receiving is that there is a large influx of drugs coming from the Tidewater area,'' Forbis said. ``The connection for the drugs in the area is in that area, and further north.''
Using a chart that resembled a corporate personnel chain-of-command, authorities outlined a structure that they said had its leaders based in Manteo, a community on Roanoke Island.
The alleged chieftain, Lorenzo Pledger of Manteo and Elizabeth City, was already in jail on an unrelated charge. The No. 2 man on the chart, Leroy ``Boogie'' McClease of Manteo, who was wearing a shirt with ``BOSS'' emblazoned across the chest, was among those arrested in Tuesday's raids.
``The network is phenomenal,'' said Forbis. ``We're continuing an investigation concerning charges of maintaining a continuing criminal enterprise. That is criminal activity involving five people acting together. We believe we have more than five people involved in narcotics or selling other types of property.''
Forbis said a number of those arrested were unemployed.
``Almost all of these suspects were receiving some type of government assistance,'' Forbis said. ``Their primary business was the sale and delivery of controlled substances.''
There is also a link between those suspects, Forbis said, and Ivan Fitzherbert Lovell, one of two men arrested in the October shooting death of a Maryland state trooper.
Lovell, of Kill Devil Hills, was acquainted with some of the drug suspects arrested Tuesday, authorities said.
``They all ran in the same circle,'' Forbis said.
The number of alleged dealers on the Outer Banks is not surprising, Forbis said.
``I can't say this area is (especially) attractive to drug dealers,'' Forbis said. ``Every area is attractive to them. It's sad, but it's become such a part of the fabric of our country.''
Dare County Sheriff A.L. ``Bert'' Austin said he hoped the success of the operation would send a clear message to the drug community, and to the general public, that drug trafficking will not be tolerated.
Dare County officials asked for the ALE's help in cracking down on the Outer Banks county's drug trade. R.V. ``Bobby'' Owens, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said he authorized the unannounced allocation of $16,000 to state agents to use as ``buy money'' to purchase drugs.
``Hopefully, we'll get the money back,'' he said. ``If we don't, I think it was worth it. We don't want any of our people to live in fear of neighbors involved in drugs.''
Forbis said, however, that others are waiting to fill the gap left by Tuesday's arrests.
``We have already received information about other groups that want to come in,'' he said. ``They're lying in wait. They see this as a golden opportunity. We're continuing our investigation.''
KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST DRUG RING STING OPERATION by CNB