The raid was a bust.

That doesn't mean officers didn't find anything — they did.

They seized a cell phone with a photo of one of the detainees holding an AK-47 and another of him sitting at a table with drugs and money.

Officer John Taylor reads the search warrant.

Officer Chris Woodruff's dog Zeusa showed interest in places where drugs had been kept in the past and the search warrant itself, read to one of the occupants of the house by Officer John Taylor, detailed the numerous stops and numerous complaints made by citizens in the community.

Even as officers talked to detainees, a woman drove up and then immediately turned around upon seeing the law enforcement presence there.

Tuesday, Roanoke Rapids police investigators and uniformed officers returned to 238 Maria Avenue in the Brandy Creek community after receiving numerous complaints that Calvin Champion and his brother Robert are still allegedly dealing drugs.

“Obviously, we're going with a search warrant and we're going to go look for drugs,” Captain Andy Jackson said in the ride over to Maria Avenue in a recreational vehicle. “We've got numerous complaints from the community and citizens.”

Since his initial arrest last fall, Calvin Champion has been arrested several times by Roanoke Rapids and Weldon police. “Apparently, he sees fit not to adhere to the law,” Jackson said.

Officers believe Calvin Champion and his brother are allegedly dealing in trafficking amounts. Whether Calvin Champion is working for himself or taking up business for someone else, Jackson declined to comment.

Officers pray before the raid.

Riding in a recreational vehicle under the guise they were lost trying to get to a nearby RV park, the officers stormed the yard, sent people hanging out at the house scattering and conducted an intensive search of the area, where Calvin Champion last fall was found to have pit bulls allegedly being trained for fighting on the grounds.

The dogs are gone, but there are clear reminders they were there, doghouses thrown in the wood line and the skeletal remains of one dog near a stack of debris that used to be part of their housing, one detective at the scene said.

Jenkins, left, and Garner.

Detained at the mobile home off the gravel road that is Maria Avenue was Larry Nathaniel Jenkins Jr., a 23-year-old Weldon man, who five days before the raid was arrested by Officer Roy Ball for possession of schedule II, cocaine.

Jackson said Ball allegedly saw Jenkins drive up to the house and leave two minutes later. Ball stopped him on Highway 125 and discovered he allegedly had cocaine on him. He was released from jail.

Ball, three days before the raid, caught Rondell Garner going to the house and stopped the 29-year-old Roanoke Rapids man, charging him with possession with intent to sell and deliver schedule II.

At the raid scene Bryant Harrsion was detained, like the others, in handcuffs . “I was here to fix a four wheeler,” he said. “I'm a mechanic. That's what I love to do.”

Asked if this was the sight of a 24-7 drug market, Harrson said, “I see people riding around. I don't know what it's for.”

Woodruff and Zeusa.

As they waited for officers to finish searching house, one person on the porch said he was “fiending” for a blunt, making the reference several times in front of officers he was ready to roll a fat one and get high.

Jessie Arrington, who told rrspin.com the online newspaper had reported on him before, said 238 Maria Avenue is his grandmother's house and Calvin Champion is his cousin. “Calvin's in jail. I don't sell at all.”

Arrington said he is trying to straighten out his life. The Cadillac he was driving is a car his mother helped him get. “People think that I bought that Cadillac with drug money.”

Arrington said he simply came over to, “Drink a little liquor and chill.”

The Cadillac was strong with the smell of marijuana, Jackson said, and Arrington admitted he smoked a blunt before coming over.

His laid back, coming over to chill attitude changed, however, when he learned officers had seized his phone, the one with the incriminating photos on it and he got into an altercation with his mother before finally driving off angry.

Jackson was pleased with the results of the raid, although no drugs were found. “No, any time you show police presence where there is criminal activity it is not a waste of time. If our actions deter one person from doing drugs and participating in criminal activity we deem our job a success, even if it's one person.”

Referring to the site where the dogs used to be kept, the captain added, “Efforts haven't been a waste because the backyard is a whole lot cleaner than it used to be.”