Pubdate: Tue, 21 Sep 2004
Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA)
Copyright: 2004 The Times-Picayune
Contact:  http://www.nola.com/t-p/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848
Author: Michael Perlstein, Staff writer

LOW-LEVEL DEALERS TARGETED IN DRUG SWEEP

They Keep Crime Rate High, Police Contend

By  Operating under the assumption that the city's stubbornly high crime 
rate is being fueled by street-corner drug dealers, not the wholesalers and 
kingpins, the New Orleans Police Department targeted small-time pushers in 
its latest drug sweep Monday.

The fact that 15 of the 201 suspects police were looking for were found 
already behind bars seemed to bolster the theory. Two other suspects were 
recovering from gunshot wounds and a third, Lenny Smith, 20, was fatally 
shot on Sept. 12.

"It makes you know that we're targeting the right people," Superintendent 
Eddie Compass said. "To keep the murder rate down we have to take it to the 
front lines. We had a lot of investigations into midlevel and upper-level 
drug dealers which have been very successful, but the individuals who are 
actually perpetrators and victims of a lot of the murders are from the 
lower levels."

With help from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Jefferson Parish 
Sheriff's Office and state Department of Probation and Parole, the New 
Orleans narcotics task force began knocking on doors at 5 a.m., rounding up 
suspects who allegedly made hand-to-hand drug sales to undercover officers 
during the past three months.

The 15 suspects already locked up had been arrested on unrelated charges by 
other police units, some of them within days after they allegedly sold 
drugs to the narcotics squad officers.

By midafternoon Monday, 74 suspects on the list were in custody, booked on 
charges that included distribution of heroin, crack, powder cocaine and 
marijuana. A few suspects were booked with distribution of fake drugs, 
commonly known on the streets as "bunk."

One suspect, who answered the door with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol in his 
waistband, also was with hit with a weapons charge.

Operating under the code name "Playin' with the Fellas," members of the 
Major Narcotics Division relied heavily on audio and videotape during drug 
transactions to help the cases stick in court, Compass said. In addition, 
the Orleans Parish district attorney's office was updated during the course 
of the operation to make sure police and prosecutors were on the same page.

Another boost came from the state Department of Probation and Parole, said 
Capt. Timothy Bayard, commander of the narcotics squad. By sharing the list 
of suspects with probation agents and bringing them along for the sweep, 
the task force was able to identify dozens of suspects who are on probation 
for prior felonies.

"The revocation paperwork for a lot of these guys is already being 
processed by the probation department," Bayard said. "These are individuals 
who aren't going to get the chance to get out on bond."

Most of the drug buys, Bayard said, were made by undercover officers 
driving "cool cars," unmarked older vehicles that are rotated frequently to 
avoid raising suspicions among dealers. The officers found willing sellers 
in every corner of the city, from Algiers to the Jefferson Parish border in 
Hollygrove. Seven of the suspects are from Jefferson Parish, police said.

All but a handful of the suspects are males, with ages ranging from 16 to 47.
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