NORWICH – A man accused of being at the center of a 2009 drug bust in which police raided two apartments and a storage shed, seizing sports cars, several handguns and more than $25,000 worth of cocaine, appeared in Chenango County Court last week to challenge his alleged role in the crimes.

Michael A. Victor Jr., 29, was arrested at daybreak on March 27, 2009, during a tactical operation by the Norwich Police Department, the New York State Police and Chenango County Sheriff’s Office.

District Attorney Joseph McBride said police conducted a three month investigation into Victor and his alleged co-conspirators, including his roommate and girlfriend at the time, 21-year-old Curissa Jenkins of Norwich.

Testifying before W. Howard Sullivan for an evidence hearing last Monday, Deputy Police Chief Rodney Marsh said investigators coordinating with the State Police and sheriff placed the couple under surveillance, using undercover narcotics officers and informants.

Marsh said during the investigation police took photographs of people visiting the two apartments rented under Jenkins’ name, one at 72 Plymouth St. and another at 31 Hickok Ave. Officers in unmarked cars also followed suspects to suspected drug deals and deliveries, he said.

Police would later raid both locations at the same time, allegedly discovering amounts drugs. Police say the couple used one location as a drug front and the other as a residence.