CONTENTS Testimony of George Israel, mayor, city of Macon, Ga. Testimony of Beverly E. Ponder, director, Georgia Bureau of Investiga- tion; accompanied by Thomas McGreevy, director, Investigative 23 Testimony of Porter Wood, deputy sheriff, Laurens County; and Frank E. Testimony of Jay Barrow, former staff writer, Macon Telegraph. Testimony of Sue Rusche, president, DeKalb Families in Action, Inc.- Testimony of Doug McLaughlin, assistant superintendent, Bibb County Testimony of Howard Scott, program director, Booker T. Washington Testimony of Raymond L. Vinsik, special agent in charge, Atlanta District Office, Drug Enforcement Administration; accompanied by Kenneth Miley, Gordon Raynor and Bob Johnson_. Testimony of Rex Elder, aviation director, Macon Municipal Airports__ Testimony of Murvale O. Belson, lease owner of the Herbert Smart, Down- Testimony of Louis J. Cardinali, director, Southern Region, FAA; accom- panied by John Keyser, regional counsel, Daniel E. Carr, staff, and MONDAY, MARCH 3, 1980 Welcoming statement of A. F. Brandstatter, Federal Law Enforcement Testimony of Max G. Willis, district director, U.S. Customs Service, Testimony of Raymond L. Vinsik, special agent in charge, Atlanta District Testimony of Mary McCulloch, social worker, Coastal Area Community Page 169 173 194 215 237 253 Testimony of Sam Cofer, Board of Natural Resources, Coastal District, 255 Submissions for the record: Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard.. 260 Glenn Thomas, Jr., district attorney, Brunswick Judicial Circuit, 261 Prepared statements: Prepared statement of Max G. Willis__. 261 Prepared statement of Rear Adm. Benedict L. Stabile___. 263 INTERDICTION OF DRUG TRAFFICKING IN GEORGIA FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1980 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SELECT COMMITTEE ON NARCOTICS ABUSE AND CONTROL, Macon, Ga. The Select Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:15 a.m., in the Macon City Hall, Hon. Billy L. Evans (acting chairman of the Select Committee) presiding. Present: Representatives Lester L. Wolff, Billy L. Evans, and Lawrence Coughlin. Staff present: Patrick L. Carpentier, chief counsel; Roscoe B. Starek III, minority counsel; and John W. Peploe, chief of security/ investigator. Mr. EVANS. These hearings will come to order. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The decision of the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control to hold hearings in Macon and Glynco demonstrates, not only the major role played by the Southeastern United States in drug smuggling activity, but also the level of congressional concern regarding illegal drug use by the young. Whether traveling by air or by ship, direct from South America, or by truck from Florida, smugglers are invading our State. What is most dangerous-more than the involvement of organized crime in the drug trade, more than the connection to legitimate businessis that this increased drug flow into Georgia is harming the physical and psychological health of our youth. National statistics indicate that the use of illegal drugs and marihuana in particular has been increasing among 12- to 17-year-olds over the last 10 years. Especially disturbing are the trends which indicate a declining age in an individual's first use of drugs and an increase in daily use of drugs. The most recent study of high school seniors, taken in 1978, found that 28 percent of these teenagers who were not regular users had used marihuana at least once; 37 percent were current marihuana users, and about 11 percent smoked pot every day. That adds up to well over 60-something percent of our youth having experimented with this drug. The Select Committee's intensive study of marihuana has shown that the effects experienced by these pot smokers can be horrendous, ranging from inflammation of the lungs to changes in sex hormones to severe psychological debility, often called the burnout syndrome. As Georgia youth have been the unlucky recipients of the increasing loads of South American marihuana not seized by our enforce ment agencies, the paraphernalia industry has been the lucky recipient of teenagers' pocket money. Thanks to the efforts of parent and community groups like Sue Rusche's Families in Action, the legislature has taken important steps against the purveyors of bongs and roach clips. My work on the Select Committee has convinced me that such groups as Ms. Rusche's may be the most important weapon we have in the fight against drugs, particularly in our work to eliminate drugs from the schools. I am concerned, however, that we must also focus on the supply aspects of drug abuse. Pushers must pay the price for their criminal activity. That is why I have introduced a bill that would make the penalty for possessing over 100 pounds of pot a minimum of 10 years in prison. Today's hearing will attempt to explore not only possible improvements in the legislative and judicial areas, but also to measure the state of the art achieved by law enforcement agencies in curtailing smuggling. We want to find out why Georgia fails to receive adequate manpower and material to counter the drug smugglers. With an extensive coastline and a busy airport in Atlanta, we need maximum Federal, State, and local efforts and cooperation to stay ahead of these criminals. I am sure our witnesses who are directly involved will provide us with insights to these problems which we will study carefully in Washington to come up with sound recommendations. We have a number of witnesses who will help us in this area. Our first witness, after our mayor welcomes the people to Macon, will be Mr. Beverly E. Ponder, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The second panel will consist of Sheriff Ray Wilkes, Bibb County; Sheriff Cullen Talton, Houston County; and Sheriff Cary Bittick, Monroe County. Before we have the mayor, I want to point out the people we have with us. I think we have a good, representative group of all the agencies here, showing their interest in the drug traffic in Georgia and the increasing problem here. I would like to introduce Patrick Carpentier, chief counsel of the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control; Mazie Pope from the White House staff; and Bill Byrd from U.S. Customs Department. We have Gus Fassler from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Jim Kanouse who is with the Army liaison, and we have with us Jack Peploe who has done the investigation down in the area and put these hearings together, and has done an excellent job in that respect. And we have also, representing the equivalent of the Select Committee in the House, on the Senate committee of Senator Nunn, dealing with the drug problem, Bill Colombell. We are proud that you are here and that Senator Nunn has shown the interest that he has in the drug problem over the years and was interested enough in these hearings to have you represent him here today. If I might, I would save the two people who I am very appreciative of coming to Macon and taking time out of a very busy schedule to assist in the drug area here in trying to do something about the drug |