Pubdate: Sat, 14 Mar 2009
Source: Daily Press (Newport News,VA)
Copyright: 2009 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.dailypress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/585
Authors: Peter Dujardin, and David Macaulay
Cited: Law Enforcement Against  Prohibition http://leap.cc/

WAS IT REALLY A $1.2 MILLION DRUG HAUL AT PHISH SHOW?

Hampton police are standing by their estimate that $1.2  million 
worth of drugs were seized at three Phish  concerts this past weekend 
- -- adding that "one very  large bust" of marijuana accounted for a 
large part of  the drugs seized.

The $1.2 million estimate is indeed a huge amount of  drugs. It 
equates to an average seizure of $6,185 for  each of the 194 people 
arrested on various felony and  misdemeanor charges -- and some of 
them weren't charged  with drug offenses.

Lots of people commenting on the story on  dailypress.com said they 
found the $1.2 million figure  "Phishy." The alternative Web site Raw 
Story then got  hold of the Daily Press article, quoting a 
pro-legalization group, Law Enforcement Against  Prohibition, 
asserting that the seizure numbers  appeared inflated.

Cops inflating drug prices "is definitely something our  members have 
encountered before," said Tom Angell, the  group's media director, 
told Raw Story.

But Hampton police spokeswoman Allison Quinones said  the police 
numbers were indeed accurate -- adding that  the one "very large 
bust" was included in the  estimates. "There's no misrepresentation," 
Quinones  said. "There's no padding of the figures."

The amount, she said, was the end customer, or street  value, of the 
drugs. It was verified, she said, by  special investigators who work 
with drugs and seizures  "every day."

Quinones later released a photo of what appeared to be  hundreds of 
mason jars filled to the brim with  marijuana. The photo showed the 
drugs, packaged to look  like a food delivery, in the back of a police van.

Quinones would not detail how much of what drug was  seized, or the 
dollar amounts of each. She also would  not reveal how much marijuana 
was seized. An  investigation into the large pot bust was continuing, 
she said. "When we can release more details, we will,"  she said.

In addition to the Hampton arrests, police  made 73 drug-related 
arrests related to the concert and  confiscated drugs worth just 
under $6,000. This  included 16.7 grams of cocaine, valued at $1,670, 
and 369.14 grams of marijuana, valued at $3,691.40.

Women of the Moose to make donation

The Women of the  Moose, from the Warwick Moose Lodge, 122 Turlington 
Road in Newport News, will give the Newport News Police  Relief 
Association a donation on Sunday, March 22, at 2  p.m. at the lodge.

The donation is raised and given by the Women of the  Moose to help 
the NNPRA in their mission, which is to  extend aid and assistance to 
eligible retired members  of the Newport News Police Department, 
active members  of the department and their families, police 
spokesman Harold Eley said.

The police relief association raises money through  fundraisers such 
as the Police Ball and gives money  annually to retired members to 
supplement their  retirement income.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom