Successes

Not every bust goes according to plan. But, as Hannibal Smith used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together.” The images above are photos from only a few of the many successes the DEA and police drug division forces across the country have had.

***Operation Family Tree: Springfield Man, Woman Sentenced for Meth Conspiracy***

NOV 14 -- ( MO) – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that two Springfield, Mo., residents have been sentenced in federal court for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Operation Family Tree is a multi-agency law enforcement investigation that targeted the large-scale distribution of methamphetamine and marijuana in southern Missouri and Oklahoma, resulting in a series of federal indictments on Aug. 31, 2007.

Robert J. TAYLOR , 40, and Kelly D. WILSON , 38, both of Springfield, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008. TAYLOR was sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison without parole. WILSON was sentenced to four years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered WILSON to forfeit to the government $7,335, which was derived from the illegal sale of methamphetamine and was seized by law enforcement officers.

On June 2, 2008, TAYLOR pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene County, Mo., from Aug. 24 to Dec. 15, 2006. On four occasions, TAYLOR sold a total of 28.5 grams of pure methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement agents. TAYLOR also introduced undercover agents to WILSON , who was his source of supply.
On June 13, 2008, WILSON pleaded guilty to her role in the methamphetamine conspiracy. She admitted to providing methamphetamine to TAYLOR for redistribution, and to selling methamphetamine to undercover agents.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and COMET (the Combined Ozarks Multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Team).

***This is a press release from the DEA website. Congratulations to our St. Louis Agents for a job well done!***

### Another long running case. It wears me out sometimes and I know it’s hard on our families but in the end it’s worth it. My team sure makes me proud. I couldn’t have assembled a better group of men and women if I had hand-picked them myself. We’re like a well oiled machine. Everyone knows who’s doing what from the minute we begin an operation until the final paperwork is done and the bad guys are on their way to prison. I’m ready for a long vacation.
Callye just called. It’s nice to know I’m headed home to her for a few days. Just a couple more things to wrap up and I’m out the door.

###Justice’s fictional commentary###

They have GOT to be kidding!

Reality television? Really? I can’t believe this. I’m not big on the whole follow you around with a camera crap. Now they tell me there is going to be a camera crew doing just that—with my unit. I don’t think so.

I have enough to do with making sure my guys are safe and nailing the bad guys to the wall. The last thing I need is for some idiot with tunnel vision through a camera under foot. This isn’t a game. Chasing down drug dealers is NOT a spectator sport. Whoever came up with the concept needs their head examined.

They want to interview us before we get started. I’ve got too much to do to take time to sit down with these people and answer foolish questions. Maybe it’s not too late to cancel this.

Crap. Here comes Director Barker with the producer and a camera jockey. It’s too late after all. Time to paste on a smile and get it over with. They want honesty, reality; well I’m going to give it to them. Maybe I can wake them up to the dangers and get out of this yet.

Buys and Busts

God have I missed Cas. We had a major case that had been building for months. It took a great deal of concerted effort to break it up.

The investigation had taken the better part of two years. My team wasn’t directly involved. We were called in to help with the strike. I have never seen so many agencies working together. We had DEA, FBI, ATF as well as state and local police hitting a major import line in Texas.

The strike took us five days to coordinate. When you have a couple of hundred people involved in a case, it makes sense that it would take some time. I couldn’t believe it. The total take down? 700k in drugs, fifty assault rifles, and twenty-five members of the infamous Calibero gang.

These heartless bastards have been guilty of more than drug crimes. Assaults, murders, attempted murders, armed robbery, and there is even a hint at possible involvement in human trafficking. That’s not really my department and as of right now it’s merely rumor.

I do feel good about what we’ve done. It’s a huge interruption into a train that stretches off into the horizon. Now that it’s over I just want to finish my reports, go home, get a hot shower and curl up on the sofa with Cas. Baby, I’m coming home!

I'm tired

I'm tired of the never ending stream of bad guys. I'm tired of the fact I'm bailing out the ocean one teaspoon at a time.

We three major explosions last week. Three different meth houses in three different parts of the state went up. One was near a school. While the school was in session. Kids were coated with debris. Parts of the house were scattered all over the school yard.

There were kids who were hurt from falling bricks and wood. Kids who were injured in the rush to escape. It was a mess. It could have been worse, but there were five casualties. two kids, a teacher and two of the meth lab techs. Bastards.

The second house was in an abandon section of town. Thank God for small miracles. There was no one injured at all. Just a house reduced to rubble.

The third...It went up like a Roman candle. The explosion rocked the small subdivision and the fire spread to two other houses. Families lost everything they had except each other. I'm sure they're grateful that they only lost material objects. Those can be replaced.

I'm going to get the ones that got away. Someone is going to pay for all the destruction. That I can guarantee.

I'm just so damned tired. of it all.

The farmer in the Del Mora

We have the thermal camera in the air right now scanning the Del Mora subdivision. The bird’s flying over the suspected house and live streaming the images to us. The way it works: The thermal imaging camera picks up the heat given off by a specific source. When something is warm it comes across as a light color.

“Damn, ya think that’s our house?”

What’s Chase…HAHAHAHAH! This place is lit up brighter than New York at Christmas time! Leave it to Chase. “You think?”

With all the heat coming from that place you could warm a small continent. Every four pot plants require 1000 watt bulbs for maximum indoor growth. This guy is either major overkill or he’s got one heck of an operation.

Mickey is getting itchy. He’s pacing across the room and back. Bobby isn’t much better, he’s bouncing his knee in anticipation. Chase, Chase is his normal asinine self. As soon as we get the warrant we hit the joint—no pun intended.

We do know one thing: this raid won’t be a bust. Not with the evidence that’s lighting our screen. The last couple of raids have been hit and miss. It’s like they know we’re coming before we get there. You have no idea how frustrating it is to have adrenaline slamming through your body, excitement of knowing you’ll soon be taking one more scumbag off the earth only to raid the place and find no drugs, no money, no weapons, nothing.

That desire will be satisfied today, just as soon as that little slip of paper is in my hand. Here it comes! “Let’s lock and load!”

Pot Farms and School threats

We’ve gotten a tip from a CI about a farm. Seems our good ole boy farmer counts pot as one of his cash crops. I don’t know that I believe he’s got it out in the open so we have to send up a bird to check it out for us. We can’t just raid the farm without probably cause. So we’ll wait on surveillance photos before we go grab a warrant.

While we wait we’ve got another case to bust. Apparently our rat deals from his house…almost across the street from a school. These bastards deal to these kids, giving them “candy” and once they’re hooked they do whatever they have to in order to get another score. Dealing that close to kids is a tougher sentence. Those asses don’t get the offer to flip. Anyone who poisons children doesn’t deserve a chance.

Un-freakin’-beleivable! Just found out he has three kids of his own living in that house! I don’t get it. I just don’t get it! How can you expose your kids to shit like this? The guns you know he has to keep to protect his house from not only police but from some junkie looking to score or from some rival looking to invade. Not to mention the drugs that are easily accessible, the addicts who come in for fix and a place to enjoy it.

Kids make it harder to do our job. You always have the thought in the back of your mind: will he use his own children as a shield to hide behind? Obviously, they have little concern for life and they sure can’t love those kids. Not if they’re letting them like that way.

Also busting in like we do is enough to terrify and traumatize a kid. We look like the bad guys because we’re taking away their mom or dad. Some people just shouldn’t have kids. After today there will be three who will be moved into protective custody. No matter the fact protective custody is in the best interest of the child, its not a good thing. Turning their world upside down the way it does.

Time to go shut him down!

Undercover

I hate it. Sometimes its necessary to put an agent in so deep we can’t get to them. No wires, no communication, no back up. I’ve been there and I can tell you it’s the loneliest feeling in the world. You have to hang on by your nails and if something blows up, you have no one but yourself to depend on. There’s no way to get in touch with the Calvary. We don’t get contact until the deal is sealed.

It’s a hairy time for the each member of the unit. The waiting is hell. Pure hell. There is the very real fear that our plant will be discovered and the next time we see our agent will be a body dump.

The cover itself is a tricky thing. It has to be something that actually fits the agent. I’ve heard the example that the agent looked more like a suburbanite so if he were to try and ghetto-ize, it wouldn’t fly.

It's not always our agents that go in "undercover". CIs are pretty good for that, well some of the time. We have a CI in place now that rolled last night. She’s going to be leading us to her connection. She’s made the call now and in an hour she’ll be going to the buy. With her cell phone we’ll be able to listen in as she makes the deal.

Chase is working on photocopying the cash right now. The cash e use is from confiscated stashes we find during raids. We make a “withdrawal” then the bills are photocopied so that we have a complete record of the serial numbers on the bills. It’s just another way to track the deal. As soon as he’s done we’ll be filing out and filling the cargo vans to wait for the word to raid the house.

This van is too damn crowded. My nerves are already starting to stretch. This bullet wound is still aching and now that its healing the itch is starting creep in. It’s going to make me insane! Man, I hope this bust goes smooth. I don’t want to get hit again and I sure the hell don’t want to see any of our unit get it either.

I can’t stop my knee from bouncing. The anticipation, the adrenaline rushing through my veins, makes it impossible to sit still. Patience was never my long suit and this part of an operation requires more than I’ve got. Damn. Waiting sucks. This is Mickey and Bobby’s gal so their running the show. As soon as we get the word the vans are going to roll in then the entire unit will bail out and surround the place.

I wanted to hit the door but thanks to this damn wound I’m going to be part of the clean up crew. Almost time…Almost…There's the signal. 'Bout damn time!

Damn!

I got shot. The friggin’ hole burns like hell. They had to cut me open to remove the lead. Said it clipped the…some nerve in my shoulder. Hell, if I knew anatomy I’d be a doctor, right?

They made me stay for a couple of days. Now I’ve got a wing in a sling and Cas is clucking all around me. I love her but right now I’m ready to claw out of my skin. I couldn’t help it. I snapped on her.

At first she looked like she was going cry but all the sudden her eyes glittered like dark sapphires, her jaw clenched, she flexed her fist open and closed a few times. Lord, I thought she was gonna spit fire!

Listen to me Justice Bernard. I’m not going to stand here and let you snipe at me. You’ve been shot and are under orders to take it easy. So sit down and shut up before I knock you clean into next week. I didn’t sit up and worry about you just to bring you home and have you act like a jerk!

She looked so cute all hoppin’ mad I just couldn’t help but grin at her. Earned myself a smack in the chest. At least she was sweet enough to make it my uninjured arm.

I’m supposed to be out of commission for a day or two longer, but hell with it, I’m going in tomorrow. Of course Cas doesn’t know I plan on it. She’s creative. She’d find a way to keep me pinned in here.

The pain is started to get worse. I better pop a pill before Cas sees me hurting. She won’t let up until I’m tucked all safe in bed—huh. Tucked in bed. She’d have to be there to take care of me. In bed. “Cas? Honey, I need one of the pills the doctor sent me home with. Can you help?”

Hey, I was only shot I’m not dead!

Every days a challenge

Some days this really gets to me. It feels like I’m trying to drain the ocean with a teaspoon. Every time we turn around there’s a new dealer to deal with. We busted a guy last night, small time dealer, but if we could get him to turn we could work our way up the food chain.

Sometimes we have to make deals with the devil. I hate it, I really do, but if we can get a small bit player turn informer on their supplier, then that supplier turn on their guy, up until we hit a lieutenant, that would be well worth it. If the lieutenant were to flip, we could take down the king pin. And anything it takes to get Rivera down, I can live with.

It just sticks in my craw to offer these deals. I hate the idea of a pusher getting reduced or even commuted sentences because they turned over the next guy. It helps I guess. I mean we get the low down on the pusher and we can keep a leash on these guys, but knowing that some asshole that poisons kids is out without doing time just aggravates me.

A guy we picked up last night was a small time fish. Strictly street level and he flipped on his supplier. We’ve got a deal arranged. Little fish is going to contact his supplier for some coke and we’ll nail the supplier the minute the transaction occurs.

It’s really hard to know if we can trust these guys. There’s no telling when the next flip is going to screw us. It gets kind of hairy out there. We don’t really get a chance to know these guys before we let them help with a set up.

To be honest with you, I don’t trust any of our CIs. They’re criminals. If they get a better deal from someone who plays on their side of the fence, one of my guys may not make it back. I guess I should look at it this way—one off the streets is one less pusher that’s going to sit on the sidewalk and pass out their drugs.

The deal goes down in an hour. Each time we do this the adrenalin starts pumping, your hands shake, your knees bounce. You’re pumped and ready to spring into action. There are times when we’ve gotten in there, ready to roll and been held back because the supplier isn’t there.
Hopefully this isn’t one of those times. Gotta suit up.

Introductions

This is my unit. I’m the man in charge. It’s my job to see that my guys make it home, in one piece at the end of the day. I’m responsible for their safety. And with this team, I have to admit, it isn’t easy. We’re all short tempered and can get hot real quick. Fortunately, there is always one of us who is able to defuse the situation. God only knows what would happen if we all four went haywire at the same time.

Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. Name’s Bernard. Justice T. Bernard. I’ve been with the DEA for about fifteen years. I wasn’t sure where my life was going but I was messing around with some of the guys when I was young and for some reason, out of the blue, I decided to become a cop.

Went through the academy and spent five years driving a squad car. The opportunity for advancement came in like providence. I ended up at Quantico then, before you could blink, I was working DEA. It took me a few years but they finally gave me my own unit eight years ago.

My team? My partner Chase Willett. Great guy but he’s got a sarcastic streak wider than the Mississippi. Then there’s Mickey Flannery and his partner Bobby del Gado. I trust these guys with my life. I better, right?

We’ve got a hell of a mess on our hands right now. Ramiro Gonzalo Sancho Rivera. Bastard’s the biggest drug lord we’ve dealt with in our region—ever. The man is vicious, ruthless, and he’s got to be taken out. The problem is coming up with anything that connects him to the import line.
He’ll make a mistake and when he does I’m going to be right there just waiting to catch him. I’ll nail his ass so far into the wall he won’t see daylight again, ever.

Then there’s Cas. My Cas. She’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I can’t believe I’ve gotten so lucky that Callye Ann Simone fell in love with me. We met by accident, or so it would seem. But that’s another story. I’m proposing to Callye. I can’t believe I’m going to take the plunge. Well, if she’ll have me that is.

The ring has been ordered and as soon as it’s ready then I’ll do it. I’ve got it all planned. Her favorite place to eat is a little Italian place near The Landing. The Arch is all lit up at night, the Mississippi laps gentle like on the cobblestones that line the bank.

I know she’ll say yes. At least I think I know she will. Hang on…

Damn. Maybe this is the time we’ll finally get Rivera to slip up!