Pubdate: Fri, 26 Sep 2003
Source: Independent  Florida Alligator, The (FL Edu)
Copyright: 2003 Campus Communications, Inc
Contact:  http://www.alligator.org/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/760
Author: Kirsten Kridel
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

DRUG BUST MONEY USED FOR ENFORCEMENT

Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series detailing 
Gainesville Police Department's Comprehensive Drug Plan to rid city streets 
of drug dealers.

The Gainesville Police Department is reaping the benefits of an 
international drug bust operation from 1993 to 1997.

Money paid to the departments of participating officers is making it 
possible for GPD to fight street-level drug use today.

GPD received $5 million from the Department of Justice about four months 
ago, GPD spokesman Keith Kameg said.

Police Chief Norman Botsford earmarked $307,000 for a Comprehensive Drug Plan.

GPD was eligible for the money because officers Louis Acevedo, Julio Pomar 
and Jeff Nordberg were assigned to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 
task force that helped break up Claude DuBoc's international drug-smuggling 
ring, Acevedo said.

"DuBoc had organized crime and terrorist ties to organizations such as the 
Irish Republican Army and Hell's Angels and to individuals who would supply 
arms to terrorist organizations in the Middle East," Acevedo said.

DuBoc's organization had laundered hundreds of millions of dollars since 
the mid-to-late 1980s, Acevedo said. It obtained the money by transporting 
massive quantities of marijuana and hashish to the United States, said 
Acevedo, the only one of the three officers still working at GPD.

Gainesville officers became involved when DuBoc smuggled large amounts of 
drugs into North Florida, he said.

"The investigation led the local task force to Europe, Hong Kong, the 
Bahamas, Canada and all over the continental United States," Acevedo said.

Acevedo said he posed undercover as a boat captain for a Colombia-based 
drug organization.

"Eventually, DuBoc, who was a dual citizen of France and the United States, 
was arrested overseas," Acevedo said.

The government confiscated $72 million in cash and assets, he said. GPD 
already has received $5 million and is anticipating more.

Every organization that participated in the investigation is entitled to a 
part of the money, he said.

Botsford said it took a long time to receive their portion of the money 
because several properties in different countries had to be sold.

The Comprehensive Drug Plan, implemented in August, involves sending 
officers out on the streets to catch drug buyers and sellers in the act 
once or twice a week for the entire year, Kameg said.

Botsford said he decided to spend the money on this initiative because the 
No. 1 complaint he receives from residents is the use of narcotics in 
neighborhoods.

"It means we can do lots of things we wouldn't be able to do at no expense 
to the citizens of Gainesville," he said.

Because the money came from drug dealers, it's only fair to use it to stop 
the problem, Botsford said.

"We'd like to provide less opportunities for drug dealers," Botsford said. 
"When we appear before neighborhood groups, we hope they will feel more 
comfortable with their streets and sending kids out, knowing that there 
aren't drug dealers on the corner."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom