3 charged in Norfolk in multimillion-dollar drug ring

NORFOLK

The owner of a video game center and home theater installation company was arrested with two others on federal charges of distributing millions of dollars worth of cocaine in the past year.

Christopher Roy Barber of Smithfield, who owns Game Theater Innovations in Norfolk, was arrested Wednesday after a yearlong investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local police. He is in jail awaiting a bond hearing next week.

Authorities also arrested Fabian Israel Beltran Lopez of Norfolk and Earnest Kumasi Johnson of Chesapeake.

The DEA said Barber was the leader of a drug trafficking organization that distributed multiple kilograms of cocaine throughout the region.

Using informants and telephone and video surveillance, DEA agents and Virginia Beach police tracked Barber's movements over the past year, recording numerous drug transactions, according to an affidavit made public Thursday in U.S. District Court.

In one recorded call last month, Barber said he was distributing 50 kilos, or 110 pounds, of cocaine a month and that when he was arrested, he told the DEA he had sold $1.2 million worth of cocaine that month alone, the affidavit says.

Authorities said they found 9 kilos of cocaine at Barber's business. They also found another kilo with Johnson when he was arrested Tuesday leaving a Chesapeake barber shop.

The trio will return to court Tuesday for bond and preliminary hearings.

Barber's Game Theater Innovations, near Military Circle, offers home theater installations. Customers also can play video games at the store by the hour.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com