W’burg brothers snagged in drug sting

Two Williamsburg brothers are facing first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance charges after they allegedly tried to buy 82 Oxycontin pills from an undercover police officer Friday in Walmart’s parking lot.
Williamsburg Public Affairs Officer Shawn Jackson said the case against Chad Lawson, 24, and Chris Lawson, 26, both of Flat Creek Road, was presented to the Whitley County Grand Jury Monday morning.

“We expected indictments to be returned when the indictments come back from the grand jury Monday,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he and Detective Bobby Freeman were both undercover and in a position to witness the drug sting that was done by Officer Susan Petty.

“She did a good job. Everybody remained safe,” Jackson noted.

Petty negotiated the sell of 82 Oxycontin 40 mg pills for $20 each or a total of $1,640, Jackson said.
He said the two men apparently planned to split up the drugs, and had asked for the drugs to be divided with 60 pills in one baggie and 22 in another.

“Upon making the transaction, officers from the Williamsburg Police Department and Kentucky State Police took the two suspects into custody,” Jackson said.

Neither suspect was armed.

Police seized the cash that was allegedly going to be used to buy the drugs in addition to the vehicles of both men and other items.

Jackson said authorities might seek the forfeiture of one or both vehicles as the case proceeds through court.

Jackson said both subjects were detained and questioned by police, but were not arrested pending further investigation of the case.

He said that it is unclear whether the two men intended to resale the drugs.
“It is a pretty large amount. You would think so. However, during interviews, both subjects stated they were addicted to Oxycontin,” Jackson said.

“It is not really clear right now if their intent was to resale or just do them all. It is certainly a lot of narcotics.”

Hiding in plain sight

Jackson said authorities had received a lot of complaints about possible drug transactions taking place in the parking lot of the Walmart Super Center.

“The drug dealers are saying the last place they are going to suspect it is right out in the middle of the wide open in the bottom of a parking lot,” Jackson said.

“A lot of people often meet at the end of the Walmart parking lot and just sit there and talk. Most people think nothing about it, but that is where a lot of drug transactions have been taking place. It is something we are going to look at and step up on and eliminate.

“Any time you have any type of drug transaction taking place in a public parking lot like that, you are endangering a lot of lives. The drug deal can go south at any given time, and it really can endanger civilian lives.”

Jackson thanked Kentucky State Police for their assistance with the investigation.

“Troopers K.Y. Fuson and Duane Foley were a great help and a great asset to us in that investigation also,” Jackson said.

“This reflects on the good working relationship between the Williamsburg Police Department and the Kentucky State Police.”

Few undercover operations

Jackson said that the department normally doesn’t have the manpower to conduct undercover operations.

“It is something we are looking at more of in the future,” Jackson said.

Jackson said authorities hope to make a push in the near future to address the illegal trafficking of prescription narcotics in Whitley County.

In April, Williamsburg police conducted undercover drug buys, and obtained sealed indictments against 68 people as part of Operation Take Back.

Police said about 95 percent of the indictments were related to Oxycontin abuse.

“We are hoping to start picking it back up,” Jackson noted.

Prescription drug problem

Jackson said prescription drug abuse is the number one drug problem facing police.

“10 years ago, most of the time if you arrested someone on the street, they might have a little marijuana on them or something like that,” Jackson noted.

“Now the marijuana arrests are few and far between. You hardly ever see anyone just smoking a joint. Now, the drugs of choice around here are Oxycontin, Lorcet, and Percocets, which are all prescription narcotics.”

Jackson said the drugs are coming from various sources. Some get them in large quantities from out of state. Others are getting pills from doctors and reselling them.

“The drugs are getting out here on the street and killing people, especially the Oxycontin,” Jackson said.
He said that a suspect in a recent interview described Oxycontin addiction “like a monster just grabbing a hold of you. Once it has you, it has got you. That is the way he described his addiction to Oxycontin. Young people are out here doing it once or twice and they are getting hooked.”

“Oxycontin is by far the worst right now, but in general, prescription narcotics are very popular. It is bad,” Jackson said. “Oxycontin, once you are hooked, you’re hooked.”

Jackson said drug users are finding various ways to take the drugs including crushing them to snort them, or shooting them up through syringes.

“People are getting out here and sharing needles and taking a chance of catching several numerous blood born pathogen diseases,” he added.

Previous drug sting

One of the last major drug sting operations conducted by the Williamsburg Police Department where suspects were busted trying to buy drugs from undercover police came in August 1998 following a six-month investigation.

Williamsburg police conducted an undercover sting operation at a local motel where they seized nearly $7,000 from two Indiana men, who were allegedly trying to buy several pounds of marijuana.