News Online

Undercover Sting Finds Market for Meth Makers

An undercover sting operation this week ended with a Jackson County store owner in jail, charged with Conspiracy to Manufacture Methamphetamine. A Narcotics Task Force raid found Buu Quac Chau's convenience store stockpiled with hundreds of items used to make, sell and use drugs.

(Source: WLOX, Biloxi and Pascagoula, MS, Published: July 28, 2010)

Drug Raid Nets Marijuana Plants, 26 Snakes in Ormond

James Walsh, 51, had 13 marijuana plants, most of which he tried to hide among tomato plants on a patio deck, said sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson. Along with the snakes, authorities also found a monitor lizard and an opossum in the house at 257 S. Ridgewood Ave. The reptiles were kept throughout the house, in aquariums, glass cases and storage tubs, Davidson said. Ormond Beach police and agents from the multi-agency East Volusia Narcotics Task Force searched the home shortly after 6 a.m. Friday. The raid ended months of investigation into reports of drug activity at the home, Davidson said.

(Source: The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Daytona Beach, FL, Published: July 10, 2010)

Meth Bust Nets 12 Arrests

People allegedly drove up to a Grass Valley house — one honked his horn for window delivery — and bought methamphetamine from a Nevada County narcotics officer in a drug bust that turned into a sting operation. In the middle of searching a suspected drug dealer's apartment for drugs late Tuesday, officers with the county Sheriff's Office Narcotics Task Force picked up two ringing cell phones — and made more deals, leading to more arrests.

(Source: The Union.com, Western Nevada County, CA, Published: July 8, 2010)

Seven Arrested on Suspicion of Distributing Meth

Phone taps and a routine traffic stop led a federally funded narcotics task force to arrest five Stanislaus County men and two Merced County men suspected of distributing methamphetamine in Modesto and Ceres.

(Source: The Modesto Bee, Published: June 27, 2010)

More Than 2,200 Arrested in Crackdown on Mexican Drug Cartels

The United States has arrested more than 400 additional suspects -- for a total of 2,200 over 22 months -- as part of its crackdown on illegal drugs coming from Mexico, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. announced Thursday morning.

(Source: The Los Angeles Times, Published: June 10, 2010)

Nassau Police Dept's Heroin Squad - Out of the Public Eye

Happening upon this seemingly abandoned lot might leave you with the feeling that you're about to witness a late-night drug deal, but in fact, you would have stumbled on one of the places that heroin dealers and addicts fear most. It's the heart of the Nassau County Police Department's Heroin Task Force. Much of what happens here is kept under wraps. Police asked that the address be kept confidential. The following is what authorities can share.

(Source: The Long Island Herald, Long Island, NY, Published: June 2, 2010)

Deputies Seize $87,000 After Drug Deal In Fort Bend County

Agents with the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force arrested two Houston residents after they allegedly drove to Fort Bend County in a rental car for a series of drug deals.

(Source: FortBendNow.com, http://www.fortbendnow.com, Published: June 2, 2010)

Drug Raid Netting Nine Pounds of Meth Linked to Mexican Cartels

Multiple law enforcement agencies Wednesday seized more than nine pounds of methamphetamine, which carries a street value of about $670,000, in what they are calling one of the biggest drug busts in recent history in San Juan County.

(Source: The Daily Times, Farmington, New Mexico, http://www.daily-times.com/, Published: May 20, 2010)

Police: Indiana Man Sentenced in Tazewell County Part of Large-Scale Drug Ring

A man who police say was involved in a large-scale transportation of cocaine from Indiana to Tazewell County will spend 14 years in prison. "This is one of the first times we’ve had an individual with no real connection to this area who has traveled here to sale drugs," Lee said. "We hope the significant sentence he received will certainly be a deterrent to any others who may contemplate that."

(Source: Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV, http://bdtonline.com/homepage, Published: May 19, 2010)

78 Charged in Crackdown on Newburgh Drug Gangs

Since March 2007, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have been building files against City of Newburgh gang suspects and their associates. The indictments stemming from their three-year investigations, dubbed Operation Blood Drive and Operation Black Crown, read like scripts for crime movies. At a news conference Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office unsealed two federal indictments against 78 suspects, accusing them of drug trafficking. Confidential informants, undercover officers and physical surveillance helped law enforcement officials infiltrate the drug rings. Some of the charges carry maximum penalties of life in prison if the suspects are found guilty. "The drug problem has overwhelmed the city, and the cycle of violence that always comes with gangs and drugs has reached crisis proportions," Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.

(Source: The Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, New York, http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/, Published: May 14, 2010)

Police Say They Smashed a Major Bronx Drug Ring

They knew what the unmarked police cars looked like, down to their license plate numbers and the dents in their bodies. An apartment building tucked away on a one-way street in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx was their guarded fortress: They could see every car coming their way and brandished guns when they sensed trouble approaching. That was how law-enforcement officials on Thursday described the members of what they said was a sophisticated, brazen and long-running drug-trafficking operation.

(Source: The New York Times, Published: May 13, 2010)

George County Drug Roundup Nets 29 Arrests

Dubbed "Operation Cold Snap," a law enforcement sweep through George County was a shocking start to the day Thursday for some residents. More than 50 narcotics agents met at 5 a.m. for a quick briefing and by 6 a.m. were rousting known drug dealers out of their beds and homes in a county-wide roundup. "These are street-level drug dealers," George County Sheriff Garry Welford said. "We have been all over George County. We have searched about every community in the county, plus the city of Lucedale." The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, U.S. Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration participated in the raid. The National Guard Drug Task Force provided helicopter support. The operation was led by George County, which served warrants on 33 known drug dealers.

(Source: The Sun Herald, Biloxi, MS, http://www.sunherald.com, Published: April 29, 2010)

25 Arrested in West Contra Costa County Drug Sting

At least 25 people were arrested in an expansive West Contra Costa drug sting that began Wednesday morning and concluded about 10 p.m., according to the West Contra Costa County Narcotics Task Force. The sting was the result of a five-month investigation that began when a Richmond resident reported strange activity at a neighbor's residence.

(Source: The Contra Costa Times, Contra Costa County California, http://www.contracostatimes.com, Published: April 28, 2010)

Federal Operation Nets 24 Drug Arrests in South Carolina

A drug pipeline that for years has fed more than $14 million worth of crack and cocaine into the area has been slowly dismantled by an undercover narcotics team operating in Aiken County, according to federal officials. "Operation Currytown" is the culmination of an 18-month investigation, which, in addition to the 24 arrests, has led to the seizure of vehicles, weapons, homes and cash with a value of more than $100,000, McDonald said.

(Source: The Aiken Standard, Aiken, South Carolina, http://www.aikenstandard.com/, Published: April 12, 2010)