Published: July 03, 2008 03:59 pm         

Sheriff vows to reduce illegal drug activity in county

Most every crime in Wyoming County — in some way — goes back to illegal drug activity, according to officials.

That is why the county Sheriff’s Department will not take a step back on the illegal drug activity despite a major cut in federal funding for the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, according to Sheriff C.S. Parker.

“Most all the B&Es (breaking and entering), all these copper thefts, they’re stealing it to get dope money,” Parker said.

In addition to the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department, the regional task force includes law enforcement agencies from McDowell and Mercer counties, along with Bluefield and Princeton police departments, and the State Police, Parker explained.

“We knew about this (funding cut) about six months ago,” Parker said, adding the agencies agreed to continue the task force and seek funding from other sources.

Parker said officials have approached U. S. Rep. Nick Rahall to begin the process of having Wyoming County designated as a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), which in turn will secure more money to battle drug activities.

Appalachia HIDTA was created in 1998. Currently, there are 65 counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The area encompasses regions of high unemployment and low median family incomes, which perpetuates illegal activities, according to officials.

Additionally, officials are working to obtain more grant funding for the task force.

Another form of revenue for the ongoing battle against illegal drug activity is the seizure of cash and property confiscated during arrests.

“We can use it for ‘buy money’ and equipment for the task force,” Parker explained, “but it can’t be used for salaries.”

“Buy money” is used for undercover officers to purchase drugs during drug investigations, Parker explained.

Officers actually buying illegal drugs is what turns arrests into convictions and jail time for offenders, according to officials.

Once in a great while, officers will seize a large amount of cash or property during a drug arrest; however, for the most part, dealers sell illegal drugs to feed their own habit.

“Most of them don’t have anything,” Parker said.

“This county can’t afford not to be part of this task force,” Parker emphasized.

“The task force does good work. They keep a lot of drugs off the street.”