WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Police: Criminals adapting their "business" to economy woes
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VIDALIA, GA (WTOC) - Vidalia police believe even the drug dealers are adapting to the troubled economy. They raided a home Friday night and found cocaine and crack ready to sell.
"It was just laid out on tables, on floors, on shelves, pretty much just laid out in plain view," explained detective Michael Clements.
But what they didn't find was much cash. Instead, they said, Michael Scott, Anthony Holloway and Anthony Anderson seem to be trading drugs for goods and mainly stolen goods.
"You have 5 or 6 digital cameras, computers stacked on top of each other, Playstation 3's, Xbox 360's just stacked up," Clements added.
They're already matching some of it to past burglary reports.
Police say the drug dealers have almost been forced to barter and take whatever customers can offer.
Over the weekend, Toombs County Sheriff's deputies also seized one of their biggest marijuana crops in years. They arrested Richard O'Neal on manufacturing charges. While they found a few plants outside, sheriff Alvie Kight said most of the illegal industry has gone indoors.
"It's easier for them to keep it indoors and keep law enforcement from finding it and other people from seeing it," the sheriff noted. "Just like farming, it is easier to control the climate indoors than outdoors." Kight also noted pot growers in urban areas moved indoors long ago and now rural growers are following suit. He says state agents who sweep Toombs County each summer for marijuana haven't found plants outdoors in 3 years.
Both groups say no matter how criminals adapt, they hope to be there to make it even harder to do business.
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