Record amount of drugs seized in 2004

Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

Lake County law enforcement officials were responsible for taking $822,600 worth of drugs off the streets last year, a more than 15 percent increase over 2003.

The county's narcotics officers, teamed up with Sheriff's deputies, Tribal police and other agents from the Northwest Drug Task Force, worked 233 drug cases which resulted in 76 search warrants and the arrest of 88 people in 2004.

"Those 233 cases were when we opened up a file, spent time investigating, and acted on that information. That doesn't count the dozens of times we responded to smaller leads," the officer said.

The Sheriff's department asked that his name not be used because of ongoing drug investigations.

Perhaps the most important drug-related number was 100 - the percent conviction rate from major warrants served and related felony arrests. The officer said when Lake County law enforcement officials team up with the county attorney's office, drug dealers have little chance of getting off on the charges.

"We have a 100 percent conviction rate by working with Mitch Young in the county attorney's office," the officer said. "When we serve 76 warrants and have a 100 percent success rate, we have our ducks in a row."

Young pointed out that the 100 percent conviction rate depends on what one considers a successful prosecution, but did confirm the county's success over the past year.

"We've had a fairly good success rate, and a lot of it has to do with good planning. Its been a long time since we've had a case go to trial. Most end up pleading guilty when they look at the evidence against them," said Young, the deputy county attorney.

Young confirmed the officer's explanation that effective warrants were a key to the process.

"It's been a long time since we've had any evidence suppressed. The Task Force does a great job in documenting all of their evidence, so we haven't had many situations where evidence was thrown out," Young said.

Young said working regularly with local law enforcement officials has helped establish a team-based relationship that helps strengthen a prosecutor's case. Young has also become the de-facto drug prosecutor in the office after finding those types of cases to be particularly challenging and interesting given the myriad legal issues involved with search and seizure, he said.

Most of the drugs seized last year were methamphetamine and marijuana, the officer said. A total of $20,784 in cash was seized during raids, much of which will go into law enforcement coffers.

"There was a huge difference in the value of the drugs seized versus the cash seized. What we typically find is that the meth dealers spend their money using and buying meth, while marijuana dealers usually save their money better," the officer said.

The undercover officer was one of three law enforcement officials who work on drug activity in Lake and Mineral counties and Tribal areas as part of the Northwest Drug Task Force. Sanders County was recently added back into the Task Force's territory, the officer said.

With only three officers covering hundreds of square miles, providing effective drug interdiction efforts remains a challenge, he said.

"The mill levy would have helped out tremendously. I was really disappointed when it didn't pass," he said, referring to the failed vote last November that would have provided more funding for the Sheriff's department. "The public doesn't understand the drug problem here."

He said Lake County is no different from other counties around the state experiencing a deluge of meth-related cases. Most alarming are the number of children becoming involved and victimized by the meth trade, he said.

"We are seeing 12-year-old kids using it. It's also really sad when you kick in a door (during a raid) and see little kids sitting all over the place," he said, referring to children of meth cookers and dealers. "The place is always a mess - there's dirty dishes piled up from weeks ago, and no food in the fridge."

He said meth addiction breeds crime in other areas.

"They steal because they need money, so you see a rise in burglaries and robberies. Then you have the violence that comes from just using drugs - assaults, stabbings, fights, things like that," the officer said.

Keeping the public informed is a key to getting tips on local dealers and other information. Task Force members participated in a total of 27 public meetings around the region last year, and they've paid off, he said.

"That's just getting out and educating the public," he said. "If we don't get any input from the public, then we aren't nearly as successful."