Wednesday, September 17, Fayetteville narcotics officers were conductingone of that city's now routine checks of Greyhound bus passengers. Thesearches are conducted in an attempt to crack down on drug traffic thatfrequently flows through the station. City officers became suspicious ofKevin Golphin, one of the passengers traveling to South Carolina.
Sergeant Edwin Burns recalls making contact with Golphin and talking tohim for a few minutes. Burns says suspicions were raised about Golphin,how he was traveling, and the answers he gave to officers' questions.Officers suspected Golphin was carrying a controlled substance.
Police didn't arrest him because Golphin didn't consent to let officers search his bag. Officers seized the bag, but had to let Golphin travelon.
After receiving a search warrant from the magistrate, officers searchedthe bag and subsequently turned up 80 grams of marijuana. A warrant wasissued for Kevin Golphin's arrest, but since he was already, by that time, in South Carolina and since the amount of drugs recovered was so small,police could not bring him in.
Six days later, Golphin and his brother were charged with gunning down twoof the narcotics officers' colleagues. It's a reality they say is toughto stomach.
Sgt. Burns admits the first thing that probably went through most officers' minds was the fact that two officers were lost and somethingmight have been done to prevent it. But, after looking at state laws andregulations, Burns believes that there is nothing that could have beendone.
Burns regrets there was no canine team on hand during the Greyhound bussearch. If there had been, he says, Kevin Golphin might have been pulledoff the bus and arrested at that time.
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