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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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 [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York 
#12063456 - 02/20/10 12:32 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York
February 19, 2010 - ydr.com
An eight-year undercover investigation concluded with the arrests of 27 kingpin and high-level dealers, say federal prosecutors who touted the "destruction" of a Mexican drug cartel, responsible for filtering millions of dollars of cocaine into the midstate area.
The dealers were responsible for distributing millions of dollars of powdered and crack cocaine in Lancaster, Harrisburg, York and Lebanon, federal officials said Friday.
Most of the drug activity - an estimated 75 percent - took place in Lancaster with the rest filtering out into other communities, U.S. Assistant Attorney Christy Fawcett said.
The cartel's four ringleaders - Jamie Cardenas-Borbon, Fernando Beltran, Rogelio Lopez and Antonio Avila - were found guilty after a two-week trial in June. They were sentenced to federal prison this week: Borbon, 24 years in prison; Beltran, 20 years; Lopez, 16 years; and Avila, 14 years. Twenty-one others defendants made plea arrangements and were sentenced to anywhere from 18 months to 25 years in prison. Two others await sentencing.
Of those arrested, 16 were from Lancaster, five from Mexico, two from Harrisburg and one each from Florida, Illinois and California.
Fawcett believes the drug arrests are already making an impact.
"This was a large-scale organization in this area. Since then, cocaine prices have risen significantly," she said.
The investigation, which began in 2003, revealed cocaine and drugs were driven into the area by tractor trailers where they were off-loaded to a Lancaster-based drug trafficking operation. The drugs were then distributed to a network of middle- and street-level dealers in Lancaster.
The organization was considered one of the most significant drug trafficking operations in Pennsylvania, responsible for distributing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and crack cocaine, Fawcett said. During the raid, investigators confiscated 18 vehicles, six firearms, jewelry and $650,000 in cash.
U.S. Attorney Dennis Pfannenschmidt credits the joint efforts of local, county, state and federal representatives in breaking the cases. The agencies include the DEA, IRS, Pennsylvania State Police, the Lancaster District Attorneys Office and the Lancaster County Drug Task Force.
"The tireless efforts of many have resulted in the destruction of the Mexican drug cartel. These individuals not only threatened the communities in the midstate but also communities in Mexico where they purchased the drugs," Pfannenschmidt said.
York City Police Detective Andy Shaffer, who heads the city's narcotic unit and is a member of the York County Drug Task Force, believes some of the drugs filtered into York County by low-level dealers or drug users. York's supply mainly comes from out of state, in cities such as Baltimore and New York. Some travels across county lines, he said.
Cocaine is the most popular drug in York County, estimated to account for about 70 percent of the drug task force arrests.
"It will have a short-term impact," Shaffer said. "But unfortunately, there is someone right around the corner to step up. And then we go after the next person who steps up."
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: veggie]
#12063457 - 02/20/10 12:33 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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I have to rant here. It is this story, this type of story, that exasperates me to no end. This shows the worst part of the drug war. By law enforcement participating in solving the problem of drugs in our country, a problem that the policy of prohibition created, they become active co-conspirators in the distribution of drugs to the community. And they do so in total ignorance of their involvement. And they delude themselves to believe allowing drugs into the community is acceptable collateral damage as long as they can catch a few bad guys, which in the end, by their own admission, has little effect, and then repeat the process all over again.
This bust was the result of an eight year investigation. Eight years that the authorities allowed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and crack into the community. Law enforcement leads us to believe that cocaine is a poison, addicting, the cause of birth defects, psychosis, heart attacks, HIV, brain damage, violence, crime, death, etc. So how many citizens do you think were affected during the eight years of this investigation?
I firmly believe that the families of everyone affected by cocaine during this eight year period, the addicts, crime victims, mothers of crack babies, mental patients, prisoners, AIDS patients, etc. would have the legal right to sue the DEA, IRS, Pennsylvania State Police, the Lancaster District Attorneys Office and the Lancaster County Drug Task Force, and anyone else involved for knowingly allowing all this coke and crack to hit the streets with all of its consequences. If the purpose of the drug war is to protect the citizens, then I would think they would be legally liable for all the damage that has been done by helping to distribute all this cocaine to an unwitting public. I don't know if anyone would win this type of lawsuit, but it could change the public view of what law enforcements role is in the 'drug problem'. The citizens don't benefit from the war on drugs, they get screwed. The only ones who benefit are the criminals and law enforcement and any other business or politician that is making money from it.
I know I have said this type of thing before and people have pointed out to me that the cops are just doing their job, that allowing the free flow of drugs is the only way for them to get to the kingpins. I'm going to plagiarize Seuss here who once asked on this topic something like, If it was anthrax rather than cocaine, do you think they would have waited eight years to gather evidence while knowingly allowing the public to be killed off?
The only answer is to legalize drugs. This would eliminate the profit from gangs/cartels, minimizes harm to the community, eliminate the expenditure of millions of dollars, and free up the police to once again protect the citizens, not hurt them.
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 SEE
dislexsic
Registered: 02/05/10
Posts: 132
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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 Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: veggie]
#12063564 - 02/20/10 01:07 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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 I agree that prohibition creates a problem of law that can not truly be enforced. But I dont think pokice are at fault for doing an eight year investigation- think about how many street level junkies they could have got in 8 yrs...hundreds- but why? They don't mention all the people they let go. I actually like that they worked their way to the top for 8 yrs- shows commitment; now if they would just commit to helping people instead of enforcing outdated dis-functional  polices like prohibition.
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I Before E Except after ME, SEE, what happened was....but don't worry i have it covered...I'll just tell God they died.
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MHbound
Ballin Out At All Cost
Registered: 09/24/07
Posts: 6,512
Loc: Under The Rainbow
Last seen: 7 years, 11 days
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: veggie]
#12063592 - 02/20/10 01:14 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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We're going to destroy planet earth before anything is done. Its sick, I have said this over and over and over and over and over again this very same argument..
Presented in basically the same way, but..people respond with exactly what you said:
Its okay for them to do it as long as they got those 27? people off the streets...
What about the hundreds who are dead, probably thousands;
what about the cocaine STILL running the streets after the next years to come;
what about the thousands who were sold drugs by the undercover officers and then went on to die, went on to be drug addicts..
The government was the beginning, and it looks like it will be the end..If someone doesn't take a stand soon there will be no turning back, if we aren't already there.
That said, I completely agree that not only should the families be rewarded in some fashion, but those under cover officers, their advisers all the way up to the fucking president should be help accountable for their actions just like you or I would be.
I sell marijuana because I know the people I sell it to are safe, get a good product, and I feel like I'm doing the right thing....
Exactly what they are doing, or claimmmm to be doing..What's the difference?
I would say its not fair, and it isn't, but whats it going to change? Nothing..We need a leader, we need someone to take hold of this country along with the others before its too late.
I honestly got scared last night for the first time ever of dying at the hand of someone else..I never had that fear in my life..
I'm not scared of murderers I can defend myself, I'm not scared of being raped, I'm not scared of being robbed...I'm not scared of myself...
I'm scared of my protectors, the feds, and when this country was started thats exactly what this country didn't want.
The government is a bunch of selfish assholes who only do things to benefit themselves, their families, and theirs.........
Then they tell us to treat others as we would want to be treated..
Eh, /rant
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German Kahuna
Facepalmer of Stoopid
Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 15,798
Loc: On a Chemical Vacation
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: veggie]
#12064035 - 02/20/10 06:13 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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And all that happened is that "cocaine prices have risen significantly".
I bet someone is thinking "Gracias, Senora Fawcett!" for taking their competition out and improving their profits. Dumbasses.
They don't even realize the flaws of their idiotic reasoning. The problem are not the recreational coke user occasionally doing a line or two, it's the heavy addicts and crackheads. As if these people are gonna say "damn, crack prices sure went up these days. Guess it's time to get clean...". It just means that they have to mug twice as many grannies to buy the same amount of drugs.
It pisses me off that they see this as a success. Eight years of flushing tax payer money down the toilet is what it is.
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"Vegetarian" [ /ˌvedʒəˈteəriən/] - Ancient slang meaning "village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride".
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MHbound
Ballin Out At All Cost
Registered: 09/24/07
Posts: 6,512
Loc: Under The Rainbow
Last seen: 7 years, 11 days
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: German Kahuna]
#12064080 - 02/20/10 07:00 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
"damn, crack prices sure went up these days. Guess it's time to get clean..."
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ThaiTea
Superconnected
Registered: 05/29/09
Posts: 1,070
Loc: Hollywood, CA
Last seen: 8 years, 9 months
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: MHbound]
#12064444 - 02/20/10 10:03 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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I went to high school with a kid named Fernando Beltran. he wasn't a coc dealer though, he was just a douche.
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"I take comfort in the fact that my true purpose in life will make perfect sense mathmatically, but will be discovered through the construction of an avant garde art project done by a 6th grader with aspergers twenty years from today.
Could the presence of Junkies account for all these uneaten french fries?
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cyanara
jedi in training
Registered: 12/22/09
Posts: 1,205
Loc: your grow closet
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: MHbound]
#12064456 - 02/20/10 10:10 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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economics.. it's a bitch..
this is the American way of life. screw your fellow man as long as you get ahead.. prohabition is a joke. If you don't get good results, why would you continue to do the same thing? in hopes that maybe you'll get different results next time? this type of thinking is outdated and slowly taking us down the shiter.. Look at Europe or even Canada, the drugs (even hard ones) are not ligalized, but decriminalized to a certain extent with lax drug laws. Government funded Facilities that provide regulated purity, purchase and use of let's say Heroin.. With counceling and lots of education and help, available these type of programes keep addict and these sorts of problems confined to one area and to be delt with.. I think it is time for the US to look outside of our current methods and adapt to new radical ideas. what's the harm, since our current plan is failing?
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Chir0ticVisi0ns
Registered: 10/14/06
Posts: 32
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: cyanara]
#12066258 - 02/20/10 04:01 PM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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Wow this is literally in my back yard & I didn't know about this. I need to pay more attention to the news.
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Don't Touch Me I'm Tripping Stupid!
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rodfarva
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=====-----=-=-=-=-I
Registered: 07/31/07
Posts: 4,982
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: SEE]
#12066263 - 02/20/10 04:02 PM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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as a fan of the free market, and given the half century of evidence the police state cant stall out the "illegal drug" market, i declare the drug war to be a form of socialism aimed at deriving 100% profit margins for the state.
Of these ill gotten dollars, most of the money is spent fueling the perpetual motion machine, and ensuring a larger ground level police presence. More guys on the ground never stops the guys high up in the drug organizations. What makes it all better is the fact that the higher up the ladder a police officer gets, the less likely they are to have any impact at all. a police supervisor is not a lawyer, or an expert investigator; he just knows how to find an ounce here or there, and conduct police business in a way that makes the department look the best.
Now that they have fully obliged themselves to the for-profit model, any stated goals or protected civil liberties become viewed as "obstacles."
i had a cop buddy try to explain to me how single bottle meth production is horrible for the end user the other day.
I tried explaining to him that if you crystallize, wash, and pull with dangerous chems you can still end up with clean product. i gave up after seeing the blank look on his face and decided to challenge the idea that home made drugs are never going to be stopped and he seems to be suggesting there is a better alternative for users to buy from cartels (pro operations.) I closed by asking if its such a health risk why do police have total responsibility for addicts and not the medical system. His response was priceless and boils down to this:
if a cop thinks about meth, all he will think about is usually the worst addicts hes seen, mexicans, hillbilly exploding garages, and battery acid in a 2 litre. That is about the extent he is willing to talk about.
I hope he doesnt bitch when all the arrested user talks about is police violence, exploitation of their rights, and doughnuts. Thats what cops boil down to if you want to use the logic that only the worst examples of something are actionable discourse.
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Magick
Thinker
Registered: 01/25/09
Posts: 846
Last seen: 6 years, 21 days
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: rodfarva]
#12066755 - 02/20/10 05:29 PM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
"It will have a short-term impact," Shaffer said. "But unfortunately, there is someone right around the corner to step up. And then we go after the next person who steps up."
Exactly. And then it'll be the next person around the corner to step up. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one.
Law enforcement can't do this job, it's futile and it should be in the hands of health officials not law officials. Granted I want crack off the streets too - it's a nasty drug..but as this very article states, busting this (or any other) ring isn't doing a damn thing to get it off our streets - it just if anything raises prices and eliminates competition for the next guy down the line.
We need a new way of looking at and dealing with the drug problem in our respective countries - especially when dealing with drug like crack and meth.
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SuperD
Cacti junky
Registered: 10/05/03
Posts: 6,648
Loc: The bridgesii bridge
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: veggie]
#12068934 - 02/21/10 12:12 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
This bust was the result of an eight year investigation. Eight years that the authorities allowed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and crack into the community. Law enforcement leads us to believe that cocaine is a poison, addicting, the cause of birth defects, psychosis, heart attacks, HIV, brain damage, violence, crime, death, etc. So how many citizens do you think were affected during the eight years of this investigation?
I firmly believe that the families of everyone affected by cocaine during this eight year period, the addicts, crime victims, mothers of crack babies, mental patients, prisoners, AIDS patients, etc. would have the legal right to sue the DEA, IRS, Pennsylvania State Police, the Lancaster District Attorneys Office and the Lancaster County Drug Task Force, and anyone else involved for knowingly allowing all this coke and crack to hit the streets with all of its consequences. If the purpose of the drug war is to protect the citizens, then I would think they would be legally liable for all the damage that has been done by helping to distribute all this cocaine to an unwitting public. I don't know if anyone would win this type of lawsuit, but it could change the public view of what law enforcements role is in the 'drug problem'. The citizens don't benefit from the war on drugs, they get screwed. The only ones who benefit are the criminals and law enforcement and any other business or politician that is making money from it.
I know I have said this type of thing before and people have pointed out to me that the cops are just doing their job, that allowing the free flow of drugs is the only way for them to get to the kingpins. I'm going to plagiarize Seuss here who once asked on this topic something like, If it was anthrax rather than cocaine, do you think they would have waited eight years to gather evidence while knowingly allowing the public to be killed off?
Yes, exactly. I've been saying the same thing for years. In this particular case, they delayed saving the children's precious lives by nearly an entire year. Shame on them. 
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    D
Manoa said:
I need to stop spending all my money on plants and take up a cheaper hobby, like heroin.
Looking for Rauhocereus riosaniensis seeds or live specimen(s),  me if you have any for trade
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peace_frog
Stranger
Registered: 02/04/10
Posts: 10
Last seen: 13 years, 5 months
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: German Kahuna]
#12068957 - 02/21/10 12:19 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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i agree. the war on drugs has flushed tax payers money and seen no progress towards their goal. in fact more and more dealing everyday. jus legalize shit its workin great for amsterdam
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Note. I am not legally liable for anything said under this account. All posts are fictional stories. Nothing more than a creative imagination.
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ThaiTea
Superconnected
Registered: 05/29/09
Posts: 1,070
Loc: Hollywood, CA
Last seen: 8 years, 9 months
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Re: [PA] Feds bust multimillion-dollar drug ring tied to York [Re: peace_frog]
#12069881 - 02/21/10 08:38 AM (14 years, 1 month ago) |
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I don't see them admitting defeat for some time. 
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"I take comfort in the fact that my true purpose in life will make perfect sense mathmatically, but will be discovered through the construction of an avant garde art project done by a 6th grader with aspergers twenty years from today.
Could the presence of Junkies account for all these uneaten french fries?
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