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| Marijuana Mishap Mars Credibility |
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Posted by FoM on June 18, 2001 at 11:32:35 PT By Stephaan Harris & Angela Heywood Bible Source: News & Observer 
Chef Doug Lorie cooks up black bean burritos and other vegetarian fare at the General Store Cafe, where dozens of Chatham County residents -- from county commissioners to construction workers -- gather daily for lunch and gossip. Lorie, who sports a safari-style tan hat, has heard months of rumors about a local marijuana bust gone awry: Nearly 5,000 pounds of the drug were stolen from the sheriff's department's custody last year. "It's material for a stand-up comedian. It's one of those tabloid stories that gets everyone's attention," said Lorie, a Chapel Hill-reared man who has lived in Chatham since the mid-1970s. "I wouldn't be surprised if Jay Leno gets a hold of this. Jay Leno should get a hold of this." With emotions ranging from amusement to disgust, residents are still talking about a tale that has become infamous in the Triangle. In an undercover sting Feb. 8, 2000, a Chatham County narcotics team seized 4,840 pounds of marijuana from a barn three miles southwest of Siler City. Deputies stored the bundles in a 2.5-ton Army surplus truck -- the only place big enough to hold the evidence, Sheriff Ike Gray said. On Sept. 28, more than seven months after confiscating the $5 million stash of marijuana, deputies noticed three-fifths of it had been stolen through a mesh window. Later that day, deputies buried the remaining marijuana at the old county landfill. Weeks later, officials noticed the buried marijuana also had been stolen. The FBI, which has been investigating the thefts since December, is offering a $40,000 reward for information leading to the culprits' arrest. "Oh, $40,000," said Linda Timmons, an office manager, who talked about the case while eating chicken salad at the Scoreboard Grill, a sports bar in downtown Pittsboro. "I wish I had some inside information. "I think it is a bad reflection on the county," she added. "But if I had to call the Chatham County law enforcement for anything, I would do it. I have in the past, and they responded quickly and effectively." Pittsboro native James Taylor, a technician at Cooper Ford, talks with people coming in and out of the shop all day. He has a different opinion. "I don't think anybody around here trusts them now," he said. "Somebody in that sheriff's department knows what happened to it." Gray said he has done everything he can to cooperate with the FBI investigation. He volunteered to take a lie-detector test, and agents are interviewing his deputies. Jamie Workman, who holds jobs in construction and car detailing, barely suppresses a grin upon hearing the words "missing marijuana." He thinks about the reaction of his co-workers in Durham. "They say it's pitiful," Workman said. "But, hey, it's Chatham County." Northwood High School student Ian Caffey describes many cafeteria lunch-line conversations that ended in laughter and disbelief. "Oh, it's a bad reputation, but it's the sheriff's department's problem," said Ian, 15, taking a break from his work at the Moncure museum of art site. A bad reputation is something Chatham has worried about before. Last year, an anti-immigration rally in Siler City featured former Klansman David Duke as the guest speaker. And in February, federal investigators decided to visit the county school system a second time to investigate racial discrimination complaints after a former high school principal was heard on cassette tape using a racial epithet to describe students. Perhaps it's his past military service that stresses order, but Bear Creek resident and Siler City businessman Herbert Gaines is befuddled by what he sees as flaws in the system. Why weren't the drugs burned? he wonders. And when is this investigation going to uncover something? "There seems to have been a real lack of control over evidence," said Gaines, a farm credit office manager. "They're supposed to be so alert and everything," said Taylor, the technician at Cooper Ford. "How can they let so much marijuana get away from them?" Newshawk: Ryan P. Related Articles: FBI Offers Reward for Missing Marijuana Authorities' Marijuana Haul Vanishes Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #5 posted by Cuzn Buzz on June 19, 2001 at 08:11:10 PT |
| "Why didn't they just burn it?" Why didn't they just give it to me? I'da burned it. A little at a time perhaps, but in a few decades I'm pretty sure I could have burned it all. I could probably get my friends to help. HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! I'LL BET THEY DID BURN IT! [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by Louie on June 19, 2001 at 06:47:07 PT:
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| The farmers of North Carolina have to grow something now that tobacco is on the way out. Cannabis is becoming big biz here. So are the anti-drug state law enforcement bureaucracies. Both are creating jobs. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by FoM on June 18, 2001 at 14:58:07 PT |
| It's North Carolina lookinside. It doesn't say in the article but in the link it says North Carolina. That's the state where I was born. Don't remember it though. We moved when I was a very young. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by lookinside on June 18, 2001 at 14:45:10 PT:
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| what state is this? [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Pontifex on June 18, 2001 at 11:37:00 PT:
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| On Sept. 28, more than seven months after confiscating the $5 million stash of marijuana, deputies noticed three-fifths of it had been stolen through a mesh window. Later that day, deputies buried the remaining marijuana at the old county landfill. Weeks later, officials noticed the buried marijuana also had been stolen. Is there any question that this was an inside job? I'm sure the FBI is investigating the Chatham County [ Post Comment ] |
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