Pubdate: Wed, 10 Oct 2001
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author:  Brooke A. Masters
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

LAW ENFORCEMENT SHARES THE WEALTH IN WAR ON DRUGS

DEA Distributes $2.2 Million From Traffickers' Assets for 
Collaborative Efforts.

Washington area police and sheriffs departments received nearly $2.2 
million last year from cars, houses, cash and other assets seized 
from drug traffickers, according to the Drug Enforcement 
Administration.

Joint federal-local task forces assembled by the DEA's Washington 
Division made 491 seizures from drug dealers in the District, and 
from counties and cities surrounding Washington, in the fiscal year 
that ended last month.

The seized assets were sold, and 80 percent of the proceeds were 
passed to the local police and sheriffs departments, said Supervisory 
Special Agent Michael Turner. The DEA keeps the rest to cover costs 
of administering the program.

"The checks are a result of your hard work," said R.C. Gamble, the 
division's special agent in charge, at a reception held for seven 
departments receiving money.

There are 166 state and local law enforcement officers working on 
task forces with the DEA's Washington Division, which covers 
Virginia, Maryland, the District and West Virginia, Gamble said. 
Proceeds are shared according to each jurisdiction's participation in 
the joint task forces.

"It's not about the money," he said. "It's about the collaborative effort."

Asset forfeiture became part of DEA's arsenal under a 1979 law. By 
1991, the federal government was seizing $700 million worth of assets 
annually from arrested drug dealers. The program was criticized at 
the time because some seized assets were only tangentially related to 
the drug trade. Legal safeguards were added later to place more 
limits on whose property could be seized.

Asa Hutchinson, sworn in as DEA administrator in August, demonstrated 
his interest in the asset forfeiture program by personally 
distributing checks at the reception in the District last week.

"This is a great opportunity to tell you how much the DEA appreciates 
your contributions," said the former Arkansas congressman. "Think 
about all that money going into the coffers of local law enforcement. 
But it's coming from the drug traffickers, and it hits them hard. We 
know how great a tool this is in our arsenal."

For jurisdictions such as Loudoun County, the money "helps us buy 
equipment that we probably couldn't get from the budget," Sheriff 
Stephen O. Simpson said. He cited surveillance and communications 
equipment for undercover work and a major-incidents vehicle that can 
act as a mobile command center.

Loudoun received nearly $40,000, according to the DEA.

Prince George's police Maj. Clint Lindsay, who heads the narcotics 
division, said the county doesn't rely on asset forfeiture money for 
ongoing costs because it is difficult to predict how much will be 
received each year.

Officers do keep track of seized assets, but the department does not 
receive the revenue immediately.

A case can sometimes take several years to move through the court system.

Prince George's, which received $654,000 last year, recently used 
some of its asset forfeiture funds to buy a Barringer ion scanner, 
which can determine whether cash has been in the presence of cocaine 
or other illegal drugs, Lindsay said.

Virginia State Police officials said the financial aspect of the 
asset forfeiture program is secondary for them; they received 
$250,536 last year.

"We like it as an investigative tool to put the drug dealers out of 
business," said Lt. Col. Darrell Stillwell, director of the Bureau of 
Criminal Investigation.
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