Eight get federal prison in crack cocaine operation

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, June 11, 2013

GREENSBORO — Eight people authorities say sold crack cocaine in Rowan and Davie counties have been sentenced in federal court.
In a news release, U.S. Attorney Ripley Rand said that between June 2007 and November 2010, the group operated two “open air drug markets,” one known as “Wilson Town” in southwestern Davie and the other known as “The Country “ in western Rowan. Customers would be directed to one location or the other based on the availability of crack cocaine and police presence in the area.
Many of those charged had common suppliers for crack and used the same cooks to make it, the news release said. Others would gather outside a home in western Rowan used for storing and manufacturing the drugs, where some would sell to one another for resale, some would take the drugs for street-level sales and others provided transportation for the street-level dealers.
A joint investigation by the Rowan and Davie sheriff’s offices, the SBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives uncovered the drug ring.
“Our success in fighting this brazen drug trafficking organization is a direct result of our close partnerships with state and local law enforcement,” Rand said in the news release.