Residents of Syracuse, an idyllic town of 5,000, are not happy with their community's new status as the site of Davis County's biggest-ever cocaine bust, says Police Chief John Gardiner.
"It's a very nice residential area, one in which you would like to live and raise your kids," he said. "We're a laid-back little town. Happy Valley."It was Gardiner who received a tip from a confidential informant in April that led to last week's arrest of Syracuse resident Lane C. Strom-berg, 35.
Stromberg was arraigned Tuesday in Clearfield Circuit Court on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and two counts stemming from the state's new drug tax law.
Following the tip, Gardiner said he notified the Davis Metro Narcotics Strike Force and the county attorney's office.
After observing the comings and goings at the home, police obtained a search warrant and entered the house Friday night. Authorities say they found 3 pounds of uncut cocaine valued at $250,000; a bottle of cutting agent purportedly used to mix in with the cocaine; and $500 worth of marijuana.
Two of Stromberg's children were home at the time, but their father was at a hockey game, Gardiner said.
Salt Lake police were contacted. They paged Stromberg at the game and arrested him.
A neighbor said word had spread through the neighborhood about Stromberg's arrest.
"You know drugs are going on all over the place, but that kind of magnitude, next door, you don't expect it," said the neighbor, who asked to not be identified. "I think the general feeling is shock."
More arrests may result from last week's bust, said Layton Police Chief Doyle Talbot, whose department supervises the Davis Metro Narcotics Strike Force.
Talbot said that while the Syracuse case represents the largest single confiscation of cocaine in Davis County, the amount of drug confiscated was not surprising to police.
"Generally, we knew those types of quantities were around," he said.
After having cutting agents mixed in, Talbot said the cocaine could yield as much as 5.5 pounds of usable drug. Estimates indicate that's enough for 48,000 individual doses or "lines" of cocaine, Talbot said.