Drug arrests good news

Published 11:06 am Saturday, July 9, 2011

Congratulations goes to the Franklin City Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Peninsula Task Force for a potentially significant impact on the city’s drug activity with the arrest of five men on Wednesday.

Any drugs that can be removed from the streets is good news.

During a search of two unidentified Franklin homes, authorities seized crack cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, $39,000, a gun and a vehicle. They also charged Dominique Raeshawn Kindred, 19, of 410 B Harrison St., Franklin; Alexander Howard Olds, 22, of 329 Bruce St., Franklin; Brandon De’Shun Cary, 26, of 1631 Dorchester St., Franklin; Jovar Marquis Smith, 22, of 321 Morton St., Franklin; and Torrance Jamar Bowers, 23, of 37538 General Mahone Blvd., Ivor.

Franklin Police Lt. Tim Whitt called the arrests significant because it will have an impact on the amount of drugs brought into the city. It’s also hoped that with fewer drugs, violence will be curtailed.

The sad part of all of this is these drug suspects are such young men, ranging from 19 to 26. If they are indeed guilty, we can assume they saw easy money and didn’t worry about the consequences. Often enough, drug dealers are not given substantial prison time, which they probably know.

We can only hope that these guys, if convicted, will learn from this experience and turn their lives around. Or, they may learn more about the criminal life while behind bars.