Pubdate: Fri, 24 Dec 2004
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2004 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Annie Sweeney

NUTS! COPS USE HOLIDAY TREAT IN DRUG STING

Robbins police added their own Christmas cheer to a drug bust
Wednesday night -- selling macadamia nuts as rocks of crack for $20.

The reverse sting has been done before, but not with Christmas treats,
Detective Sgt. Terrance Franklin said.

"We always use the peanut,'' Franklin said. "This time, we wanted to
get into the holiday spirit.''

The macadamia nut was inside a small, sealed plastic bag.

Twenty people were arrested after attempting to buy the nuts in the
13500 block of Woodlawn, he said.

One officer was injured in the sting after one of the alleged buyers
tried to get away, Franklin said. In the struggle, the officer fell
and broke his leg in two places.

Franklin said he hopes the misdemeanor charges of attempting to
possess drugs will do two things: Make people afraid to go to Robbins
to feed their drug habit and encourage users to get help.

Franklin said most of the buyers were not from Robbins, but southwest
suburbs, including Orland Park and Tinley Park.

Among the buyers, he said, was a Frankfort homemaker who took her
3-year-old child along, a former grammar school teacher, a college
student, a woman willing to pawn her husband's watch and wedding ring,
and teenagers.

"Crack cocaine is a bad thing,'' Franklin said. "We want them to seek
out and get some help.''
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin