Article comment by: T. EDWARDS
I AGREE WITH BLAIR. HOW MANY WHITE DRUG DEALERS , WHEN ARESSTED, ARE THEIR HOUSES RAMSHACKED & THEIR VEHICLES TAKE. WHY DID THEY(POLICE) HAVE TO STAND AROUND BRAGGING IN FRONT OF THE PUBLIC ABOUT WHO WAS GETTING WHAT.
Posted: Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Article comment by: Blair Anderson
Chief Edwards displays a remarkably naivety in assuming that the removal of several ‘drug dealers’ will make an iota of difference to the drug availability. He has created a job opportunity which the Neshoba Democrat has advertised as ‘you too can recruit some kids, make big money and have all the Jacuzzis, cars and women you want. Some message! That it took years to bust these folk demonstrates the folly of policing white and green agricultural substances or the pharmacological equivalent. Prohibition incentivises distribution networks that increasingly get smarter at avoiding detection. The chances of being arrested for drugs in Philly has more to do with ones skin color than prevalence of use. As long as this is the case the Police are without moral authority. Blair Anderson, New Zealand.
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Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Drug bust gets 70 percent of trafficking
By DEBBIE BURT MYERS
Managing Editor
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
A tri-state drug ring believed responsible for about 70 percent of the drug traffic in the city of Philadelphia was broken up by authorities last week and three men were arrested on federal charges in raids that culminated a year-long investigation.
More arrests are expected, the authorities said.
Officers from seven federal, state and local agencies simultaneously raided houses on Loper and Jericho streets in Philadelphia and another in Atlanta, Ga. at 5:45 a.m.
Charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute illegal drugs were:
� Spencer Jordan, 31, of 372 Loper St.
� Rodney Boler, 30, of 390 Jericho St.
� Charles Lee Parker (age, address unavailable) arrested in Atlanta.
Jordan�s Loper Street house was equipped with a surveillance system that monitored both inside and outside traffic.
Authorities confiscated a large amount of drugs including marijuana, crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine at Boler�s residence. A truck was also seized. Police Chief David Edwards speculated that about $20,000 in cash was found.
�They could sell you just about anything you wanted,� officer Neil Higgason said, noting that the two men were unemployed.
After the arrests, authorities spent most of the morning at the Loper Street residence loading several items into a large moving truck as neighbors watched from their yards.
Eight televisions including plasma and big screens; several pieces of furniture, some new with price tags intact; a pool table; electronic entertainment devices; and other items were confiscated.
The three men, indicted earlier by a federal grand jury, were responsible for 60 to 70 percent of the drugs coming into Philadelphia, Chief Edwards estimated.
The men were taken to Jackson shortly after their arrests where they were expected to be arraigned in the U. S. federal courthouse.
The case initiated within the police department and the Tri-County Narcotics Task Force who contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration when the investigation crossed state lines.
Also assisting in the investigation were the state Highway Patrol, the state Bureau of Narcotics, county Sheriff�s office and the Internal Revenue Service.
Officers divided into two groups in order to raid the two Philadelphia residences simultaneously.
A Highway Patrol SWAT team first entered the Loper Street residence where they encountered Jordan in possession of a weapon, Edwards said.
�He was asleep, but when they entered the residence he had gotten the gun,� he said. �He was the only person in the residence. �
Officers found another gun next to the bed where Boler was sleeping in his modest A-frame house just down the street from Jordan�s residence.
Jordan lived in a brick house which had been enlarged twice, adding a game room and a master bedroom, with a fireplace. He also had a jacuzzi bath with a built-in plasma television.
Numerous pieces of artwork, many religious in nature, hung throughout the house including a massive picture of the Last Supper in the game room.
The house also included a fully equipped weight room and an outdoor shed in the backyard which housed a tanning bed.
Chief Edwards said Jordan handled a lot of street level drugs.
�He has a lot of folks selling for him and that�s where these young kids think they can go out and make big money,� Edwards said. �That�s how they recruit these kids. They see the big money, the jewelry, the cars and the women. They think they can get rich. This should put a message out to everybody.�
The police chief said he had received inquiries from the public about Jordan for about seven or eight years.
Image via Wikipedia�You can�t do it overnight,� he said. �It takes a while to do an investigation and do it right. This should send a message to everybody that nobody is immune from this. If you are selling drugs in Philadelphia or dealing drugs in Philadelphia, eventually you will be arrested. The DEA has put together a great case. This is the result
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