Some people say that Rolly C. Miller is The Chronicle’s best-kept secret—his mysterious mentions in staff boxes give little indication of who Rolly is or what Rolly does. So here’s a teaser: Each day I come into the office, Rolly has left a copy of the issue from the previous volume on my desk. It’s interesting to see what trends we’ve followed, what issues have come full circle. So before I report any story, I like to sit down with our bound volumes (or The Chronicle archives) and see what history the story has.

But with Wednesday’s arrest, I’d reported much of the story’s precedent. Really, when a similar investigation began last April, I remember vividly how Ryan McCartney (our editor) called Nate Freeman and me into his office—“We’ve gotten a tip that a student’s been arrested, and apparently drugs are involved.” It was one of the more exciting ventures I had as a reporter: Heading down to the Duke Post Office on a hunch. Driving to the police station and getting a copy of the arrest warrant in the last moments before 5 p.m. Calling DHL (rather unsuccessfully). Finding tracking reports—and the shipping information. The package, with a return address listing Colormark Custom Photoimaging in Phoenix, AZ, was supposed to contain business cards. But their very confused employees said they ship through UPS—not DHL—and didn’t see an order for 20-pounds-worth of business cards.

And then, the charges were dropped—the case left unexplained by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
So here we find ourselves again: a Duke student charged with trafficking marijuana after a package (this one containing 27 pounds of the stuff) was delivered.

But this off-campus situation seems to have been more extensive, involving the black-clad and bulletproof-vested Durham Police Department Selective Enforcement Team.

But this time around, hopefully we’ll be able to get to the bottom of the situation.

Anyway, we’ll be digging.

-Chelsea Allison, University Editor