If I pinged anyone who's already responded here, my apologies, but I've just had a nervous breakdown. :D
how do they get away with this stuff?
Number of Marco drug busts increasing
Friday, June 14, 2002
By VICTOR A. HILL, vahill@naplesnews.com
When it comes to illegal drugs on Marco Island, users tend to get busted for marijuana or possession of more exotic substances such as Ecstasy or heroin.
And the number of Marco drug busts is on the rise, so much so, that island police could more than double their number of arrests this year than in any year since 2000, a review of Police Department reports reveals.
The department logged 47 drug arrests by May 31, compared to 53 in 2001 and 50 in 2000. The arrests include everything from possession of narcotics paraphernalia to the bust of two crack houses May 31.
"Nothing is happening any differently. It's not like we're into a surge of drug activity," Capt. Thom Carr said.
"We're getting used to who we're dealing with."
"We're doing a better job is what those numbers are," Police Chief Roger Reinke said.
Police haven't stepped up efforts to curtail drug activity, Reinke said. Rather, officers of the department, which hit the beat three years ago, are more familiar with drug "hot spots," he said.
Officers Brian O'Malley and Hector Diaz, who handles a K- 9, recently completed a drug recognition school that taught them ways to recognize people potentially transporting drugs.
The department also received a $10,000 grant this year from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct narcotics investigations. The city added $1,100. The bulk of the money will pay for overtime hours for officers to work in areas of known drug activity such as local bars and along San Marco Road, Carr said. Officers will also increase patrol time around Tommie Barfield Elementary and Marco Island Charter Middle schools.
Despite the surge in arrests, the idea of Marco having a drug problem is a subjective assertion, at best, police said.
"We have the same drug problem as the average city in the United States has," Carr said. "I say it's better for us here because we don't have the poorer neighborhoods here. It does make it a little easier for us. We don't have people dealing drugs off the corner."
Detective Kevin Hennings, a former narcotics investigator in Fort Pierce who took the position in February after a stint as a beat cop, agreed.
"Define 'problem,'" he said. "I mean, me personally, if I had a crack dealer living next door to me, it would definitely be a problem."
The May 31 drug arrest of 53-year-old Falco Giancarlo, accused of manufacturing and selling crack and powdered cocaine from two apartments at Marco Manor, added another drug into the mix on an island known for occasional busts, usually involving marijuana, Ecstasy or heroin.
"It's whatever people want," Carr said. "Cocaine was for the rich, but because it's so cheap and plentiful now, anyone can get it."
Giancarlo's arrest came after lengthy surveillance by Marco police and relied on an anonymous informant to make drug purchases.
Hennings and Carr said they expect more arrests in the months to come but declined to elaborate.
Like a casual drug user who seeks a bigger, better fix, Marco has graduated as well, Hennings said.
"If we didn't send a message when we hit those apartments, we will be soon," Hennings said. "Expect it."