The Modern Posse

It must have sounded like a television show to the local neighbors, and to the participants in the large raid on October 27, 2011. Here they were, peacefully sleeping in bed, perhaps considering getting up in the near future, when they heard pounding on their doors.

“Police Officers – open the door!”

The scene was in Mount Airy and the 9 months of undercover work led to this confrontation. All together, 42 people were sought after and 18 of them were found immediately. Others were being searched for in the days that followed. A total of 181 charges were brought against them.

The age range for the 42 people was 17 to 52. The charges were generally for possession or distribution of illegal drugs of all sorts, and eight of the 42 will most surely face mandatory minimum prison sentences, and four will be prosecuted as habitual felons.

One has to wonder, at times, about why “habitual felons” were out on the street conducting their business. Perhaps they had served their time and been released? While it is encouraging to see that they were caught and will be sentenced again, this question does come to mind.

One of the tell-tale aspects of this particular large bust was that most of the violations were not for marijuana or heroin or cocaine, but rather for prescription medications and methamphetamine. Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson pointed out that these two items have increasingly been a problem in the past few years. Just this year in Surry County, for instance, there have been 27 overdose deaths. The law enforcers are using a “multi-prong” approach.

"This is law enforcement's way of trying to combat the issue," Watson said of Thursday's roundup, which he added is part of a continuing effort by local officers to identify and arrest those involved with illegal substances.

Since the sheriff’s office provided assistance, Watson added that, "It reflects the teamwork between the city and county."

It’s good to see that a pile of drugs and another pile of weapons have now been confiscated. One can hope that the drug dealers will think twice about settling in Mount Airy anytime soon.