Pubdate: Thu, 01 Mar 2001 Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX) Copyright: 2001 San Antonio Express-News Contact: 400 3rd St., San Antonio, TX 78287-2171 Fax: 210-250-3105 Website: http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/ Forum: http://data.express-news.net:2080/eshare/server?action=4 Author: Maro Robbins WEAPONS, DRUG GEAR REPORTEDLY FOUND IN COP'S ROOM Investigators reported finding three guns confiscated from drug dealers, a red devil-shaped bong and more than a dozen household objects containing what they believe is cocaine after searching the hotel room of a fellow narcotics officer last week. Revealed in court documents filed Wednesday, the two semi-automatic pistols and a .38-caliber revolver raise additional questions about John Beauford, a supervisor with the Alamo Area Narcotics Task Force who is accused of stealing cocaine from an evidence locker. "We're looking into the possibility of those weapons being stolen," said Robert Rowe, resident agent in charge at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The serial numbers on the weapons allegedly recovered in Beauford's hotel room match the serial numbers of guns previously seized by task force agents and stored in the group's property locker, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Surovic said. Surovic said the firearms were supposed to be melted at a private smelting operation. Investigators were trying to determine whether Beauford, a Balcones Heights police officer and 10-year veteran of law enforcement, was assigned to destroy the guns. "Now we're trying to figure out why they weren't destroyed," Surovic said. Additionally, investigators are conducting an audit to determine whether other weapons, as well as more cocaine, are missing from lockers in the nondescript North Side building that is the task force's home. Weapons and drugs are stored in separate lockers, and the search likely will be a "slow process," said Converse Police Chief Rick Jameson, project director for the task force made up of officers from 10 suburban police forces. Beauford's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Alfredo Villarreal, declined to comment on the case. Charged with possession with intent to distribute between 500 grams and 5 kilograms of cocaine, Beauford tested positive for cocaine use during a routine drug test required by policy after he had a fender bender Feb. 8, according to a sworn statement filed in federal court by a task force agent. The affidavit states that, after a preliminary audit, task force agents discovered 1.1 pounds of cocaine missing from a seizure that Beauford, who sometimes logged in evidence after searches and seizures, handled in January. Beauford was arrested Feb. 21 after his task force colleagues searched the hotel room he was living in and found, according to the criminal complaint, 185 grams of cocaine. A cream-colored powder that resembled cocaine was scattered around the room in more than a dozen objects, including plates, plastic bags and a sauce pan and a bullet container, according to a government list filed in court Wednesday. Agents also reported finding an electronic scale with an old task force case number still attached, as well as more than 10 smoking pipes, most made of glass. The pipes reportedly included a "green and purple mushroom smoking bong" and another one shaped like a devil. In addition to three pistols, the agents reported finding Beauford's service revolver, a .40-caliber semi-automatic Glock issued by the Balcones Heights Police Department, and 33 loose bullets of the same caliber. Balcones Heights Police Chief Ken Menn said he is confident nothing is missing from the suburban department's headquarters, where only an assistant chief has access to the property room. Menn said he recently informed Beauford, who was released on bond, that he now faces administrative disciplinary action in addition to the criminal charge. - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer