yet another small town police state tactic

[mick mouse]

Well, it has happened once again! In the lovely town of Willcox, Arizona, the local police, in the form of Jose Rios-SGT. of the "Detective Division" , have sank to new lows.

In Willcox, AZ. the local police are trying to charge possessers/users/dealers of small amounts of unlawful substances in the following manner:

1. simple possession was (in three cases that SWIM is personally aware of) charged as dealing drugs, due to the fact that those charged had to have bought the drugs from somewhere, therefore it was a "deal". At this point, all three of those charged had the dealing charge reduced back to simple possession by the superior court.

2. The above individuals were also told that they would be prosecuted under the RICO act, due to the fact that "dealing drugs" is linked to organized crime. Again, these charges were also reduced by action of the superior court.

3. In one case that SWIM is aware of that actually involved a low-level dealer, the individual was told that they would be prosecuted under the Patriot Act because of their "terroristic involvement in national and international drug activities." I assume that this is because Willcox is only 60 or so miles from Mexico and that is where the vast majority of the marijuana in this town comes from. The prosecutor in that case declined to press the Patriot Act issue and instead went with the charge of possession with intent to sell.

It should be noted that all of the above cases involved marijuana and the possession cases involved 1 oz. or less, while the dealing case involved less than 4 oz., but it was sacked up in 1/4 oz. bags.

In all of these cases, the investigating officer was Jose Rios of the detective division in the local police dept. and he was the person responsible for filing the initial charges.

SWIM has heard from a reliable source that this officer's latest tactic is that, due to the fact that 85+% of all 100.00 dollar bills in circulation today are impregnated with microscopic amounts of cocaine, if you are arrested and found with 100.00 dollar bills in your possession, you will be charged with possession of cocaine and the money will be confiscated as "drug proceeds". In this town, drug proceeds go to the confiscating dept. and are used to fund the local D.A.R.E. program, as well as several other anti-drug initiatives that are bank-rolled by the local police. These usually involve one or more officers, on over-time and with padded expense accounts, speaking to parents and other concerned people about the dangers of drugs.

SWIM is not aware of any cases in which this officer has actually charged anyone in this manner as of yet, but given his track record, it is SWIM's opinion that it is only a matter of time.

It is also SWIM's opinion that this department is engaging in the time honored traditions of scare tactics in order to force a confession, piling on several inflated charges to induce acceptance of a plea to reduced charges, confiscation of assets under the impression that if you are charged with a drug crime, you won't be asking the courts for your money back, and using the confiscated assets to line their own pockets.

As this is a local police dept. policy, rather than a county or state policy, SWIM cannot provide any links to this, it is only SWIM's personal knowledge of the cases involved.

**actual quote from her police report**
Do you currently now use or have you ever used unlawful substances in the past?
Yes- I have used and sold coke and meth for the past 20 or so years.

Were you aware of the fact that when the HIDTA task force and Willcox P.D. entered your home, your 14 year old son was hitting a "bong" and that there was Marijuana lying out in plain sight?
Yes, I had recently purchased marijuana for him from **** ******.

Have you ever ordered precurser chemicals off of the net?
Yes, three times, but the last time was for them (SWIM and wife. this led to home being raided, charges filed, kids taken by CPS, and no labs found, just various chemicals which all have lawful uses and in VERY small amounts)
This report was authored by a Det. Sussler, who works for Tracy Mcbride (head of HIDTA in AZ.) and reviewed by Jose Rios-Willcox P.D.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Reason swim don't go there, heard of that place