Crack Cocaine: Danville's drug of choice

PART ONE OF A THREE-PART SERIES

Crack cocaine breaks all social, economic and racial barriers as dealers supply addicts in affluent neighborhoods and impoverished housing projects.

For those that never see it, the drug doesn’t seem to exist.

But court documents reveal a part of Danville and Pittsylvania County that few realize: A world of confidential informants, undercover drug buys and video surveillance that most people only see on their favorite cop drama.

The records reveal something else: Crack cocaine is our area’s preferred drug.

And law enforcement is fighting it down the street and across the block.

Coke, snow, flake and blow

Cocaine is an addictive drug that can be snorted, injected or smoked. Crack is cocaine that has been processed from the powdered form to a rock crystal for smoking. “Crack” refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock when it’s heated.

Dr. Ruben Baler said crack and cocaine have the same effects, but using the drug in the crack form pro-duces a quicker high. Baler is a health science administrator for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Crack makes the user feel euphoric and energetic, according to the NIDA’s Web site. It also increases mental alertness.

“The secondary effects from the feeling of euphoria can mask feeling tired,” Baler said. “We can say that some (brain) systems, especially those in higher decision-making and weighing risks, those areas are im-paired.”

A user’s thinking process becomes more emotional and instinctual, he said.

The drug can cause heart attacks, respiratory failure, strokes and seizures. It decreases appetite, leaving chronic users malnourished. Baler said large doses of the drug cause weird and violent behavior, including severe paranoia. Users also hear things while high.

A Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study estimated that 6.63 percent of those between 18 and 25 in the country used cocaine in 2007. For the same demographic in Virginia, the study estimates that 7.99 percent used the drug that year.

‘A swath running …’

Our local supply comes from Mexico as the drug spreads north.

“It’s really a swath running from Mexico into border towns in Texas and then making its way into Atlanta, then the Carolinas and South Central Virginia,” said Tim Carden, the resident-agent-in-charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Roanoke office.

His office covers the area southwest of Staunton and east of Bristol, including Danville and Pittsylvania County.

Carden said the drug comes to the area as powdered cocaine and is converted to crack as needed.

He has been with the DEA for 22 years after spending seven years as a police officer in Houston. He’s been undercover, buying ounces and kilograms of cocaine. His career has taken him from Jackson, Miss., to New Orleans to Arlington to Roanoke.

During the day, in public, anywhere

Carden said his office sees mostly small-scale cocaine sells in Danville and Pittsylvania County. Dealers usually sell ounces of the drug. But he said the DEA has investigated and arrested buyers trying to sell kilograms of cocaine.

“It’s a business for some people,” he said. “People know the smaller quantities you sell, the more profit you make.”

Carden said drug sales usually happen during the day, in public and in any part of a city.

“There is no typical scenario, but a lot of times it involves telephone calls, setting it up,” he said. “They would much rather meet you at the parking lot at McDonalds (than) in a dark alleyway.”

On May 29, a local investigator met with Gustavo Cardenas of Mebane, N.C., according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Danville. The two men haggled outside a Kangaroo gas station on U.S. 29 in Pittsylvania County to discuss a cocaine buy of about 6.5 pounds, or 3 kilograms. But they didn’t reach an agreement until after a series of phone calls.

Cardenas agreed to sell about 4.5 pounds, or 2 kilograms, of cocaine for $66,000 to the undercover investigator. They met in the parking lot of Carter’s Convenient Store at 3103 W. Main St. on June 7.

Cardenas got to the convenience store at 11:07 a.m. He showed the undercover the two kilograms, and the investigator gave the arrest signal. Police charged Cardenas with possession and distribution of cocaine, according to a June 18 indictment. He pleaded guilty Aug. 17 and will be sentenced Nov. 17 in Danville’s U.S. District Court.

Hotels are another favorite place for dealers to sell large quantities of cocaine, Carden said.

William Edward Allen, 36, and another dealer in Pittsylvania County used rented hotel rooms to sell crack, according to a 2008 affidavit for a search warrant of Allen’s home at 2497 Afton Road. Investigators obtained records showing Allen rented many hotel rooms in Danville after a confidential informant told them where Allen sold the drugs.

A Pittsylvania County jury found Allen guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, among other charges, on March 27. A circuit court judge sentenced him to 52 years.

Most dealers in Danville and Pittsylvania County sell smaller amounts of the drug, Carden said. Those sales are also in public and in the middle of the day.

Usually a buyer drives up to a dealer and pulls to the side of the road, according to criminal complaints and court documents the Register & Bee obtained. The buyer asks for drugs, the dealer gives a price and gets the crack from a nearby house or car. Sometimes the dealer gets into the car with the buyer and gives the buyer directions to another location.

When they arrive, the dealer gets the crack from the house or another person, and then the buyer takes the dealer back to their meeting place.

The dealers often don’t have crack on their person.

“That way, if there’s a street sweep, and the police roll up and grab people and pat them down, they don’t have it on them,” Carden said.

Carden also said dealers take over a certain area or neighborhood.

Undercover officers have bought drugs during the day on Bradley Road “just past the church,” White Street, Lee Street and Woodside Village Apartments since 2006, according to court documents.

Lt. Mike Mondul, a spokesman for the Danville Police Department, said undercover officers have bought drugs in bars, houses, cars and business’ parking lots. Dealers with cars arrange buys all over the city, while those with less mobility sell crack in their neighborhood.

Carden said places to buy crack aren’t always limited to the “bad” parts of town.

“I’ve bought dope in the best neighborhoods of New Orleans and Roanoke,” he said. “And I’ve bought dope in the worst neighborhoods in New Orleans and Roanoke.”

‘They know it hinders law enforcement’

Dealers’ tactics to avoid arrest have become increasingly sophisticated, Carden said.

Cardenas hid the 2 kilograms of cocaine in a Craftsman drill box.

Dealers also use different types of commercial containers with hidden compartments. Some drugs are hidden in floor polish containers, bug spray cans and shaving cream cans. And dealers make their own, Carden said.

Investigators found a Kibbles ‘n Bits can that had a hidden compartment, according to a 2008 search warrant of a house in Axton.

“The cans are pretty amazing,” he said. “Every time you go into a house to do a search warrant, you have to go through each one of those to see if those things are real or fake.”

The containers can hold as much as 6 ounces of crack. But Carden said police have a counter to the elusive hiding spots.

“About 99 percent of the time, they’re not going to beat a good narcotics dog,” he said.

Dealers and their customers also speak in code. Customers will ask for a “20” or “Two O,” referring to $20 worth of crack cocaine, according to court documents. But few dealers use the same codes, Carden said.

“Generally, it’s a code set up between customers and dealers,” he said. “If it’s in the midst of a normal conversation, it would make no sense at all.”

The conversation is out of context, which tips off police listening with audio surveillance.

Large-scale traffickers register cars and storage units in other peoples’ names. Many dealers are unem-ployed and couldn’t legally justify buying new cars or storage units, Carden said. So they funnel their money through friends and relatives, who agree to put purchases in their names.

“It’s an attempt to hide their assets,” Carden said.

William Edward Allen, the dealer found guilty by a Pittsylvania County jury, and his partner bought a burgundy minivan, a white Ford Expedition, a brown Ford Crown Victoria and a black Nissan Armada, according to a 2008 affidavit for a search warrant of Allen’s home. All of the vehicles were registered in other peoples’ names, including one of the dealer’s fathers.

Carden said dealers also pay family members to rent storage units, where they hide anything from cars to drugs to money.

Fred Vonzell Rodgers convinced his niece to rent a unit at Airpark Storage on South Boston Road in Danville. In May 2005, officers saw Rodgers drive to the storage unit in an Escalade, according to Danville Circuit Court records. Rodgers switched the Cadillac for a Taurus.

He came back to the unit a few days later and took a black bag out of the Taurus and put it in the Escalade. Police searched the storage unit and found $99,940 in the bag and a total of $182,460 in the Cadillac.

Rodgers was found guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and conspiracy to sell cocaine in January 2006. He is being held at Green Rock Correctional Center in Chatham until 2023, his projected release date.

Some dealers use video surveillance equipment, which is another common tactic, Carden said. They get the equipment from commercial stores like Radio Shack or Best Buy.

Investigators found a GE video surveillance monitor and two GE surveillance cameras in Julius Leon Carter’s home in Axton, according to a 2008 search warrant.

A federal judge sentenced Carter to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release on Aug. 21 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, among other charges.

“It is fairly common, even in rural areas, to have those types of things,” Carden said.

Dealers also go through about eight to 10 cell phone numbers in a year, Carden said.

“They’re just dropping phones,” he said. “They know it hinders law enforcement in their efforts to track these phones.”

Prepaid phones are also a favorite because they’re anonymous, Carden said.

Dealers insulate themselves in the places they sell crack and some use counter surveillance, Carden said. They know the narcotics officers and the police cars. And they fan out around a neighborhood to watch for officers.

“That’s their turf,” Carden said. “And it’s up to law enforcement to utilize enforcement techniques to defeat their attempts to discover who’s who.”

‘Big mistakes’

Crack cocaine can grab hold of anyone. The drug is not limited to one race or class. And once you’re hooked, the odds of arrest increase every day.

Thomas Everett “Tommy” Cox was president and co-owner of Cox & Goodridge Insurance in Danville and was once a candidate for the Danville School Board.

On Feb. 11, sheriff’s deputies found 4 ounces of cocaine in his car during a traffic stop on U.S. 58. The drugs had a value of $11,200. He pleaded guilty July 8 to charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and transporting cocaine into Virginia.

On Aug. 25, Pittsylvania County Circuit Court Judge Charles J. Strauss sentenced him to four years and six months in prison. Struggling to speak and wiping away tears, Cox told the judge that drug use wrecked his life.

He apologized to his wife, mother and teenage children.

“I’ve made some big mistakes,” Cox said. “This being the biggest one.”