DATE: Wednesday, May 21, 1997               TAG: 9705210503

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   28 lines

FOUR ACCUSED OF NATIONWIDE DRUG-TRAFFICKING

Four local men have been charged with trafficking what federal authorities are calling large amounts of cocaine in an operation that allegedly stretched to New York and Texas.

Charged in an indictment unsealed by federal authorities Tuesday were: John Mark Berrill, 29, of Virginia Beach; Kevin Wayne Woodward, 24, of Suffolk; Lee Allen Kerns, 22, of Virginia Beach; and Rodney Mitchell Baldwin, 23, of Virginia Beach.

The indictment accuses the men of conspiracy to possess cocaine and crack cocaine with intent to distribute, distribution of both powder and crack cocaine and related offenses, and interstate transportation in aid of a racketeering enterprise.

The indictment covers activities from the summer of 1994 through February 1997. It alleges that the men stole property to buy drugs for redistribution, and that they received firearms on a consignment basis as collateral for the purchase of drugs. The defendants are accused of operating in Newport News and Virginia Beach and traveling to New York and Houston to buy large quantities of cocaine, which they allegedly brought back and distributed.

All four men have been arrested, officials said. KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST INDICTMENT MARIJUANA

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