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Posted on 05/03/2008 12:26:13 PM PDT by nin_kasi
OPA-LOCKA, Fla. -- Federal agents on the hunt for criminals on Thursday raided the wrong house while searching for drugs.
Police and federal agents raided 50 marijuana grow houses around Florida on Thursday, calling it "Operation D-Day."
They seized $7 million worth of pot plants, but they also kicked in the door of Noel Llorente's Opa-locka home and found nothing but bewildered homeowners.
"I was frightened for my husband because they threw him on the ground," Llorente's wife said. "I was scared.
Llorente said he was just leaving for work when unmarked cars pulled up, Drug Enforcement Administration agents jumped out, threw him down with guns drawn, handcuffed him, stormed into his home and searched for drugs.
"I asked them why they came to my house, they said a neighbor or somebody called and said I had a hydroponics lab in my house," Llorente said. "Then I asked them if a marijuana plant could grow inside my underwear drawer."
The Llorentes said they don't speak much English – they're immigrants from Cuba. They said one of the reasons they came to the U.S. was to escape oppression from the Cuban police.
Isabel Llorente said she never thought this could happen here.
"Never, because they criticize Cuba so much," she said. "I've never gone through anything like this."
She said what made it especially traumatic was not knowing if the agents were really police or imposters. She said she tried to call 911, but they wouldn't let her.
"What added salt to this injury was after the situation – house is searched, door is broken – they just walked away," the Llorentes' lawyer said. "Like, 'We're the government. We made a mistake.'"
The homeowner said he received only a minimal apology from police and federal agents.
"When I asked them about the door, they said, 'Sorry," Noel Llorente said. "When I asked them about my reputation, they said, 'Sorry.'"
Should focus their resources on meth. Much more harmful.
Wait for the JBT lovers to show up here and defend this sort of activity.
Somewhere in their city, there is a lawyer who is salivating upon hearing those words. Hope they hire one who's a real pit bull.
“What added salt to this injury was after the situation – house is searched, door is broken – they just walked away,” the Llorentes’ lawyer said. “Like, ‘We’re the government. We made a mistake.’”
Imagine Health Care from the same crowd. “We’re the Government, We made a mistake, And beside, you have 2 kidneys anyway.”
The constitution is not applicable to the War On Some Drugs.
Or so it seems.
..............or the Declaration of Independence or any other concept of human rights that I know of.
So do I. As someone who generally supports and admires law enforcement, there seems to be much too casual attitudes about this stuff lately. I believe that we may have a case of the cure being worse than the disease situation.
This kind of crap is happening far to often.
Gee, I hate my neighbor billy bib, think i’ll drop a dime on him and make up a story about a grow house at his house.
Send in the storm troopers.
“Wait for the JBT lovers to show up here and defend this sort of activity.”
I don’t think they’ll show their faces on this thread...
Oh, wait a minute...
“As someone who generally supports and admires law enforcement, there seems to be much too casual attitudes about this stuff lately. I believe that we may have a case of the cure being worse than the disease situation.”
DING DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!!!
PS Have same attitude as you — or at least used to. Having a hard time supporting law enforcement the way I used to given stories such as these, lying cops I’ve encountered (not w/r/t me personally so far, thank God), and these JBT stories.
Under ACHIEVEMENTS:
Former DEA Agent conducted wrong house raid.
I guess I am a bit behind the curve... JBT?
Should focus their resources on staying the he** out of private residences. Should repeal the laws the give revenues to agencies because some pot or other "illegal" substance is found regardless of how it got there. Should cancel the war on drugs which deprives us all of many of our freedoms. Legalize drugs and forget the stupid war on drugs, repeal the onerous laws that allow such perversions of the constitution to exist in this country.
The police handled their mistake very badly, if what she said is true. It’s a blessing, I guess, that they were not gun advocates and had tried to protect themselves from this, they would have suffered the same fate as the 92 year old woman in Atlanta.
The parallel being drawn between Cuba and this situation is not applicable. The difference is here, it is a mistake and a price will be paid for that, but there, in Cuba, it’s SOP and no one is safe from that kind of terror.
I have LEO friends and I’m told they would have given her a business card and asked her to call their Commander to start the redress process if they had made a mistake.
Well, that sure makes "Truth, Justice and the American Way" look just peachy, doesn’t it?
Never mind, I caught up on my own. Whew!
Good thing they didn’t have a dog, it would have been toast.
The same thing happened to our neighbors. The police broke down their door in the middle of the night and nearly gave our neighbors heart attacks. The police ransacked the house looking for drugs. The only problem was that the people the police were after had moved out over two years before. They should have had a clue that they were at the wrong house when it was evident that the people they were looking for were black while the people whose house they burst into were white.
Gestapo by any other name is still the Gestapo.
All of them put together would not make a hair on the butt of just one of the men on that beach that day. Operation D-Day... sheesh!
jack-booted thugs
Do your part to fight the war on drugs...
Go buy a lot of hydroponics equipment...lights..etc..
Grow tomatoes...
Dovetails perfectly with the piss on the victim approach to crime which is very clear today.
They only piss on the victim when they (the cops) make them the victim and can play the “oops, we’re the government, see ya” card.
Hm... interfered with her Right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, didn't they? ;^)
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
FYI
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
lol
They usually don't say sorry , partly to avoid having it used as an admission , but mostly because they are not sorry . They figure you were just lucky they did not find something .
I have always considered citizens exercising their 2nd Amendment rights a blessing. It's better to die on your feet than live like a slave.
Live free or die!
"When I asked them about the door, they said, 'Sorry," Noel Llorente said"
Maybe the cops are working with Home Depot and Loews. /s
When they raid the wrong home they are totally responsible for whatever happens. If one of the innocent persons dies in whatever way, including justifiable self defense, the police are guilty of murder.
They figure they've gone to all this expense and training that they just have to "do something" with them. Combine that desire with "anonymous tips", a lack of real planning and verification, and we get scenarios like this.
Sometimes, I wonder if they would finish that sentence as, "Sorry you didn't try and resist so I could go Rambo on your butt, kill your dog, and psychologically scar your children. I didn't even get to shoot my gun!"
I never used to have that kind of cynical attitude toward law enforcement (and for the regular cops in general, I guess I still don't), but these kinds of stories about these special units are becoming way too common.
I hope the sue and win 100 billion and a kiss on the ass from GWB.
I suspect you're right. I still find that mindset and the paramilitary trend in police organizations somewhat menacing.
I personally detest druggies and dealers. My own family has been ravaged by drug use so I have no use for it. That said, I think that the WOD has been a disaster. We've only succeeded in making the scummiest lowlifes in our country rich and glamourous (for the second time in our history), and causing a lot of corruption in government and law enforcement. Now we have cops who remind me of what I saw when I stood on scaffolds and peered over the Berlin Wall back in the early 80's.
I may not have much use for some local potheads, but I fear them considerably less than I so some ski-masked human rottweilers with MP-5's in their hands and American flags velcroed to their shoulders. I say this as a relatively dull person, who hasn't had much interaction with law enforcement since his teenage hot-rodding days about a century and a half ago.
That requires them to actualy use their brain and think.
It’s never going to happen as long as they keep getting away witout being held accountable.
Hope the homeowner sue and get millions and millions of dollars.
And that not a single dollar of it comes from the taxpayers. Taxpayers paying for out-of-control government (in more than the usual way) is unacceptable. The people who were screwed WERE taxpayers. It's like paying a judgement to yourself.
There, all fixed.
The feds have confiscated private aircraft even when there is no proof they have ever been used in any illegal drug activity.
This crap is going to continue until cops, and police commanders, DAs and judges who initiate/approve these home invasions are held personally responsible for their actions — which too often include breaking/entering, assault, animal cruelty and sometimes murder.
I hope one of the wrong-house raids is video taped by the homeowner and put up on youtube for everyone to see what it is like.
Maybe...just maybe, the outcry will force some change.
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