To read a list of those indicted, click here.
BRISTOL, Va. – They’re often called “addict dealers,” because they sell just to support their habits, and they were the focus of four-month investigation in Bristol, Va.
Based on the investigation, a grand jury issued 79 indictments against 29 such dealers, Police Chief William Price said Tuesday, during an afternoon news conference.
“It’s the saddest thing in our society, as far as I’m concerned,” Price said.
Officers took to the streets at 4:15 p.m. with arrest warrants for the 29 people indicted on various drug-related crimes. Inside two hours eight people had been arrested, said Police Capt. Jerry Barlow.
Price said he hopes that all 29 will be in custody by the end of the week.
During the news conference, held in the department’s lobby, Price said the department’s vice narcotics unit started the work on the investigation in August and targeted the addict dealers.
Neither the investigation nor the indictments indicate an increase in criminal drug activity in the north side of the city, Price said, but were a part of the ongoing war on drugs.
“As long as there is a demand, you’re going to have supply,” Price said. “Drug crime isn’t growing, it’s got enough of a foothold as it is.”
Last year, Price said, drugs were involved in 74 percent of all Virginia-side crimes.
Addict dealers are not the big guns of local drug traffic, Price said. They work the trickle-down of drug trade, “they’re addicts themselves,” Price said. “And they deal just enough to support their own habit.”
The charges in the indictments include numerous counts of distribution and conspiracy to distribute, Price said.
Two suspects also were charged with child abuse and neglect after police said they sold drugs in the presence of their infant child. And one juvenile petition was obtained against an underage suspect for distribution.
From August to December, undercover officers bought more than $4,000 worth of narcotics and prescription drugs, including cocaine, Oxycontin, morphine, Dilaudid, methadone, Suboxone, Lortab, marijuana and imitation controlled substances, Price said.
Five suspects were arrested immediately during that time in “buy-bust” operations, Price said, which resulted in the seizure of $6,500 in cash and $6,000 worth of cocaine.
Price emphasized the importance of targeting the drug problem from all angles – not just law enforcement. Last year, he said, his department sent 24 addicts for rehabilitation. Of them, 20 are clean, contributing members of society today, he said.
“We also work in this city with a coalition that works with the addicted,” he said. “We’re trying to help these people.”
ahunter@bristolnews.com | {276) 645-2531
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