CenTF Resource Center

The Web-based Resource Center for the Center for Task Force (CenTF) Training Program is a centralized source of current narcotics investigative information for law enforcement practitioners that includes recent articles, available training, grant funding information, and a question-and-answer section. The information contained herein is general in nature. If you are a RISS member, you may find additional resources regarding this material on the RISSLeads Bulletin Board.

News Brief

Merida Initiative Will Help Battle Drug Trafficking

Recognizing that illegal drug trafficking is not just a Mexican and Central American problem but also a problem for the United States, Congress and President Bush have launched a multiyear partnership to provide equipment and training to support law enforcement efforts to curb the flow of illegal narcotics. Congress passed legislation in late June to provide Mexico with $400 million and Central American countries with $65 million this year for the Merida Initiative. The Merida Initiative, proposed by President Bush in October 2007, establishes a campaign to stem the flow of illegal drugs sent by criminal organizations into the United States.

Source: http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/June/...
(America.gov, June 30, 2008)

DEA, FBI Lead Rescue of Hostage in Atlanta Area Drug House

On Friday, July 11, 2008, DEA Strike Force and FBI SWAT agents, working in conjunction with Gwinnett County authorities, successfully located and extricated a hostage who had been held in the basement of a middle-class neighborhood residence in Gwinnett County, Georgia, for nearly one week. The kidnapping victim, a 31-year-old man, originally from the Dominican Republic, appeared to be severely dehydrated and badly beaten when agents found him chained to the wall near a mattress in the home’s unfinished basement, where he had been bound and gagged. His alleged captors, Victor Abiles Gomez, 20; Omar Mendoza-Villegas, 19; and Gerardo Solorio Reyes, 23, were all from Mexico and illegally in the United States. They attempted to flee from authorities during the enforcement action but were captured and arrested. Statements provided by the victim, as well as one of his captors, reveal that he was being held as ransom for a drug debt of approximately $300,000.

Source: http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/atlanta071508.html
(DEA, July 15, 2008)

Clues in Saratoga Pot Bust Suggest Link to Mexican Drug Cartel

From the bags of beans and rice found in the camp to the type of fertilizer used on the plants, the large marijuana farm in the Saratoga hills that was the scene of a deadly shooting last week has all of the marks of a Mexican drug cartel, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. The farm is part of a growing trend dating back to the 1980s, when increased security at the U.S.-Mexico border prompted drug trafficking organizations and cartels to move part of their business to California—and closer to their buyers. "In this area and most of California, the marijuana cultivation is controlled in part by the Mexican drug trafficking organizations. The number of plants eradicated statewide has been doubling each year, and 90 percent of that is directly related to Mexican drug trafficking organizations," said Rich Camps, head of the South Bay Metro Task Force, a federally funded multiagency drug task force.

Source: http://origin.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_9895827
(MercuryNews.com, July 16, 2008)