Greene County sheriff's deputies have recovered stolen property valued at more than $40,000 over the last week.

Sheriff Steve Burns said in a Monday interview the recovered items included a $19,000 farm tractor, a four-wheel-drive pickup truck, a gooseneck trailer, firearms, home electronics and power tools.

All the items, the sheriff said, were stolen in a series of thefts and burglaries that began in August.

Burns said it is believed that many of the crimes were carried out to obtain items that could be traded for prescription pain-killing drugs that are being brought into the area from so-called pain clinics in Florida.

He noted that information from the Tennessee Medical Association indicates that this state ranks second in the nation in prescription drug abuse and that the state is tops in the nation, per capita, for use of prescription drugs.

In addition, Burns said, the controlled drug hydrocodone is the "number one" prescribed drug in Tennessee.

The sheriff said he hopes that a new "doctor shopping" law that took effect on July 1 in Tennessee may help authorities deal with the problem.

Public Chapter No. 67, which amended Title 53, Chapter 11 of the Tennessee Code, makes it a felony to fail to disclose to a physician, nurse practitioner or other healthcare provider from whom the person obtains a controlled substance, or a prescription for a controlled substance, that the individual has already received the same controlled substance or a prescription for the same controlled substance from another practitioner within the previous 30 days.

The new law also requires physicians and other medical personnel, including dentists, podiatrists and veterinarians to report, within three business days, to local law enforcement those who obtain or attempt to obtain controlled substances illegally.

Burns noted that two suspects are in custody -- one here and one in Newport -- in connection with the thefts from which stolen property has been recovered.

Suspects in custody, as of Monday, were Joshua Allen Jones, of Barkwood Park, Chuckey, and George R. Carroll, of Lonesome Pine Trail, according to Burns.

Jones, whom the sheriff said is a suspect in a number of burglaries and thefts, was being held on an aggravated burglary charge that was placed in connection with the Sept. 16 theft of firearms from a Swift Park mobile home.

Other suspects have been identified and other arrests are pending, the sheriff said.

Burns said the firearms, which were valued at $750, have been recovered.

Carroll has been held by Cocke County authorities since being arrested last week after being stopped by Newport police while operating a truck stolen from Greene County. Other charges in connection with thefts here are pending against Carroll, Burns said.

The most recent property recoveries, the sheriff said, took place last Thursday and Friday nights.

"We were out until about 1 a.m. Saturday down in the Long Creek area of Cocke County," the sheriff said.

Other property stolen from Greene County residents and recently recovered by the Sheriff's Department, Burns said, include:

* a Cub Cadet riding mower, valued at more than $3,000, that had been stolen from a Sanford Circle residence on Aug. 29.

* a John Deere farm tractor valued at more than $19,000 that had been stolen on Sept. 12 from the West Allens Bridge Road area. The tractor had been located in a barn in the Long Creek section of Cocke County.

* a 1996 Ford F-250 pickup truck valued at more than $10,000 that had been stolen earlier this month from Big Valley Farms off Highway 70 North. The truck was recovered in Newport, the sheriff said.

* a 26-foot gooseneck trailer, valued at $4,500, that was recovered Wednesday, Sept. 16, from Wilton Springs Road off Interstate 40 in Cocke County. The trailer had been stolen earlier this month from George Clemmer's barn on Gap Creek Road.

Burns said the pickup truck stolen from Big Valley Farms was used to steal the gooseneck trailer and transport it to Cocke County.

* Power and mechanic's tools that had been stolen on Sept. 11 or 12 from Asheville Highway resident Don Bolinger.

* a 42-inch TV set and an X-Box 360 game system that had been stolen earlier this month from an Old Snapps Ferry Road residence.

* X-Box 360 games that had been stolen on Sept. 18 from an Arrowhead Loop residence.

* assorted jewelry that had been recovered Sept. 12 in Knoxville after having been stolen earlier this month from a Hillcut Road residence in Midway.