Four nabbed in drug raid
By Chip Womick
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
ASHEBORO - Four men were jailed under $750,000 bonds each following a
raid Wednesday evening at an Old Liberty Road residence in which authorities
seized four kilograms (8.8 pounds) of cocaine.
Seven members of the Asheboro Police Department's ALERT team (Asheboro
Law Enforcement Emergency Response Team) entered the house at 1223 Old Liberty
Road at around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, said police Lt. Jim Smith. Officers
encountered no resistance from the four men, ages 17-23, in the residence,
Smith said.
The cocaine, wrapped in four one-kilogram packages, was found outside
the house under a bush, he said.
"Everything went very smoothly," Smith said.
Charged were Luis Alberto Becerra, 21, Ricardo Villeda Becerra, 17, Henry
Omar Hernandez-Chavez, 21, and Humberto Murillo Zavala, 23, all of 1223
Old Liberty Road. Each was charged with trafficking in cocaine.
Assisting in the execution of the search warrant were officers from the
vice and narcotics division of the Randolph County Sheriff's Office, the
Liberty and High Point police departments, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA).
"This is a place that has been under surveillance by the DEA for
some time," said Asheboro Police Chief Gary Mason.
"... There was a possibility that it could have been anything from
a little bit less than (four kilograms) to a lot more than that. Obviously,
they had pretty reliable information that there was going to be some cocaine
there, so we went in and that's what we found."
The largest cocaine bust in city history was made last August, when authorities
raided another Old Liberty Road residence - 202 Old Liberty Road - and seized
16 kilos, charging three men. Prior to that raid, the city's largest cocaine
seizure was in December 2003 when officers confiscated 7.5 kilos and arrested
two brothers at Innovations, an automotive painting and detailing business
on North Fayetteville Street.
In recent years, local law enforcement authorities have noted that Randolph
County and surrounding Piedmont counties serve as a hub for trafficking
operations moving illegal drugs from Mexico up the East Coast of the United
States.
According to the DEA website, North Carolina is a "destination state"
for cocaine, with major sources of supply being traffickers based in Mexico.
"North Carolina has experienced a significant increase in drug trafficking
activity, the majority of it due to the influx of Mexican nationals into
the state," says the website of the drug situation in the Tar Heel
state.
"... While the immigrants themselves may not be involved in trafficking,
their presence allows traffickers from Mexico to hide within ethnic Mexican
communities. They most commonly transport and distribute cocaine, marijuana
and methamphetamine."
Copyright 2002, Stephens Media Group
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