THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609290043
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 28 lines
``Buyers beware.''
That was the warning from police Saturday night after 23 people were charged with drug possession in a multijurisdictional sting operation aimed at cleaning up an open-air drug market in Churchland.
``We want to curtail all this activity and let people know it's not going to be tolerated,'' said Amber Whittaker, a police spokeswoman. ``Neighborhoods are going to be a safe place for the people who live in them.''
City and Chesapeake police, agents of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and other agencies joined in the sting aimed at the people who create a drug market - the consumers.
All those arrested Friday night and Saturday were picked up in the area around Towne Point Road and Dunkirk Street, Whittaker said.
The people arrested were charged with possession of cocaine. One of them also was charged with possession of heroin.
``We try to get the distributors, but the buyers are a problem, too,'' Whittaker said. Both groups - buyers and suppliers - ``are coming into neighborhoods where they don't belong. We're trying to tackle both issues.''
KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST by CNB