TheAgitator.com
Another Isolated Incident
Friday, May 2nd, 2008More than one hundred Miami-Dade police officers, along with federal and state agents, raided homes that grow marijuana in a two-day operation. An Opa-Locka family on Friday asked one law enforcement agency, the DEA, for an apology since it wrongly targeted their home, and to repair the physical damage done inside.
Noel Llorente and his wife Isabel, at their attorney’s office in North Miami Beach, said they would not be filing a lawsuit, but at the very least would like an apology and repair damage done when agents believed their home was growing marijuana.
It was called “Operation D-Day”, and there were more than 50 grow houses across the county involved.
The operation lasted two days; officers arrested 49 people and confiscated more than 2,000 marijuana plants along with 1,700 pounds of marijuana which had a street value of nearly $7-million.
They also confiscated 8 firearms, a bullet proof vest and $113,600 in cash.
“Operation D-Day?” You’re sending civilian police officers out to bust up nonviolent pot growers, and you name it after the military invasion at Normandy? Might that have some, just some affect on the mentality of the officers sent out on these raids?
Police groups justify door-busting paramilitary tactics by pointing out that drug dealers are violent and armed to the teeth. How does that jibe with finding just eight firearms in 50 homes?
Thanks to Kishnevi for the link.
My only complaint with the write-up is the implication that 8 arrestees had firearms and should be considered potentially violent.
It only means that they were exercising their rights to do so and we should not assume hostile intent.
Eight firearms in fifty homes? That’s only 16%.
According to the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 31.7 percent of all American households have guns. Apparently, drug dealers are only about half as likely as the average american to have a gun in the home.
Do the math, 1,700 pounds of marijuana worth $7,000,000? C’mon, that over $4,000 a pound. Not bloody likely.
This is either grandstanding by the cops, or outright lying. I favor the latter. This is an exaggeration by people who have every reason to lie about it. And such a lie can only be told by people who are first of all dumb enough to believe it themselves.
We have the wrong people on the police forces across this country. When we get people who are interested in protecting the people rather than complementing their own macho style with aggressive tactics in pursuit of victimless crimes we’ll have a lot less crime and a lot more respect for the people behind the badges.
Do the math is right!
Think about salaries for 1,000 Fed, State and local law enforcement people, weeks or months of planning. 50 houses raided. It must have cost at least a few million.
What did they get?
OK, bullet proof vest is certainly a good link to violent behavior.
Guns: maybe a sign of violence, but not necessarily, given the prevalence of guns in general
$136K. If you bust 50 houses and get $136K, that isnt even $3000 a house. Now, thats not the sort of money I carry around, but 3000 isnt like some major criminal operation.
So, we are looking at maybe a few bigger fish, but probably most of those caught had a few plants. Given that Florida has its fair share of violent crime, and used to be a gateway for more serious drugs, why are they spending a ton of taxpayer money to bust a bunch of pot smokers?