Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 Source: Macon Telegraph (GA) Copyright: 2006 The Macon Telegraph Publishing Company Contact: http://www.macontelegraph.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667 Author: Greg Bluestein Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) WITNESS SAYS OFFICERS COACHED HIM TO TALK FAST, USE SLANG IN METH CASE ROME, Ga. - A witness testified Thursday that investigators told an undercover informant to talk fast and use a slang term for methamphetamines as part of a sweeping drug sting that defense lawyers contend unfairly targeted South Asian-owned stores. John Edward Ross told a federal judge that a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent told his cousin to buy pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient to produce meth, and tell the South Asian clerk he was going to make a "cook." The ACLU wants U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy to toss out the cases against dozens of South Asian merchants indicted last year in Operation Meth Merchant, a sting designed to send a message to retailers knowingly selling methamphetamine-related products to drug makers. The group is arguing in a federal lawsuit that prosecutors and police selectively targeted South Asians during an 18-month investigation that aimed to curb the sale of household products used to manufacture meth, while ignoring white-owned stores in the drug sting. In early 2004, 15 undercover agents were sent to small grocery stores, tobacco shops and delis in six remote northwest Georgia counties. Prosecutors said the informants were sold products ranging from antifreeze to pseudoephedrine even after the informants told the clerks - sometimes using slang terms - that they planned to make meth. The sting raised eyebrows when 44 of the 49 retail clerks and convenience store owners indicted were South Asian, including many who shared the last name Patel. All but one of the 24 implicated stores were owned by South Asians, prompting critics to claim authorities are "scapegoating" minorities. The ACLU said previously it would offer testimony from two anonymous witnesses that would outline the government's effort to target south Asian merchants. Yet both backed out before they were scheduled to testify. Instead, defense lawyers called on Ross, who cooperated with the government in the sting by driving his cousin to a convenience store. Ross said he overheard the officer tell his cousin that they were going to "close these Indian stores down because they can't speak good English." Yet his memory did not match up with a tape prosecutors played of the incident, and Ross admitted that earlier in the week he had given investigators a different quote from the agent. The sting has so far yielded 43 guilty pleas - 30 from individuals and another 13 from corporations. Another 11 cases have been tossed, prosecutors said. David Nahmias, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, denied claims that prosecutors intentionally targeted South Asian merchants. "The United States Attorney's Office prosecutes cases based on the evidence and the law - not the defendant's race, ethnicity, or last name," Nahmias said in a statement. "We believe the motion has no factual or legal merit and we'll be filing the appropriate response as requested by the judge." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek