Published: August 08, 2008 11:52 am            

Drug sweep nabs city suspects

PRINCETON — Mercer County law enforcement officers set out Thursday afternoon to round up approximately 15 of the usual suspects.

Officers from the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, West Virginia State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Princeton Police Department were briefed at PPD at approximately 1 p.m., and within 30 minutes, the cruisers and officers were bringing in suspects on a variety of charges, ranging from drug offenses to breaking and entering.

Princeton Police Chief W.L. Harman reported that the drug sweep, which focused primarily on Mercer Street in Princeton, netted 11 arrests and the execution of seven drug warrants by early afternoon. In the process, he said officers seized controlled substances and some cash likely used in the drug trades.

“We seized a pretty good quantity of drugs and probably a couple thousand dollars,” Harman said.

One suspect, Ronald J. Christian, 46, of Princeton, reportedly attempted to swallow a small bag of Dilaudid as he saw officers approaching. He allegedly became choked on the pills and finally spat them out as officers reached him near the 500 block of Mercer Street.

In the 1100 block, officers arrested Thomas “Doodle” Shorter, of Princeton, and seized a substantial quantity of K-4 Dilaudid tablets allegedly in his possession.

Officers said Shorter and another suspect were in the process of shooting up the drugs when they entered the apartment. Shorter was arrested at the scene. The second subject escaped out a side door, but PPD officers located him and arrested him within minutes.

Harman said the drug and warrant sweep was part of an effort to stall drug sales and clean up all of Mercer County, but this initiative focused primarily on Mercer Street, where loitering, drug deals, and prostitution often garner negative attention.

Harman said the area is a prime site for drug traffickers for several reasons.

“It’s centrally located. There are a lot of low-income apartments...” he said. “It’s hard to police because they can see people coming in all directions.”

In addition to Mercer Street, suspects were reportedly apprehended in the Beckley Road area, and officers were on the way to Camp Creek before the original 11 suspects were processed.

Most of the warrants executed Thursday arose from investigations spurred by citizen complaints and tips of illegal activity. Harman said citizen input is essential to stopping drug abuse and sale. He encouraged citizens to continue reporting suspicious activity, even when they don’t see police responding. Drug investigations take a long time to prepare and secure the evidence needed in a courtroom, and that often includes capturing evidence of more than one controlled buy from a suspect.

“A lot of times, it takes a while, and you really have to make it look like you’re not doing anything in order to get the evidence and be able to make an arrest,” he said.

West Virginia State Police Sgt. J. Centeno, who also serves as the drug task force coordinator, said Dilaudid is one of the most prevalent drugs on local streets.

The prescription painkiller is an opiate-based pill that may be taken orally, crushed and snorted, or dissolved and injected.

“This is the nightmare of the Appalachian hills,” Centeno said. “It’s a poor man’s heroin.”

The pills seized Thursday would typically sell for about $30 per pill, a price that has inflated with the energy costs plaguing the rest of the nation.

“They used to be $20 a pill, but with gas prices, they’ve gone up to $30,” he said.

While many large cities face problems with cocaine and heroin, officers said prescription drug abuse is much more prevalent in southern West Virginia. Centeno traced that trend back to the number of jobs locally that require physical labor, which increases the number of work-related injuries and makes prescription painkillers easier to obtain.

Once people get hold of the pills, he said they begin sharing and selling them to make more money, which allows them to purchase more drugs.

“It becomes a social pattern. They share with friends, and it becomes an epidemic,” he said.

The Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force includes highly trained officers from the State Police, Princeton and Bluefield Police departments, and sheriff’s departments of Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming counties. Centeno said that make-up increases the efficiency of investigations and allows officers to follow the controlled substances and money across county lines.

“A lot of the drug dealers that come up to Mercer County are also strongly linked to Wyoming and McDowell counties,” he said.

Working together allows the task force officers and their corresponding agencies to trace drug sales to their sources.

“We don’t stop at knowing who’s dealing the drugs; we follow the money,” Centeno said.

As many of Thursday’s suspects headed for magistrate court, officers were still on the lookout for others on the warrant list, and Harman encouraged citizens to keep their eyes on the community and report suspicious behavior.

“If they come back, we’ll get them again,” he said.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

        

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