North County Cocaine Ring Investigation : Drug Wiretap Bill: $8.2 Million

Wiretaps used in a federal investigation of a Peruvian cocaine ring that allegedly operated in North County cost at least $8.2 million in 1984, according to a report released Wednesday.

The cost of seven wiretaps used in the federal investigation of the South American-based drug ring represented about 85% of the electronic surveillance costs accumulated last year by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego. Figures released in Washington by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts show that U.S. Atty. Peter K. Nunez’s office spent $9.7 million on wiretaps in San Diego and Imperial counties in 1984.

According to the report, the government spent $4.5 million on one 90-day wiretap on an unidentified business and a residence in the investigation of the Peruvian ring. That wiretap was initially authorized for 30 days on Sept. 5 by U.S. District Judge William B. Enright, and was extended on Oct. 15 and Nov. 28. The report called this wiretap “the highest cost for a single federal wiretap for narcotics” in the country last year.

Frank Ragen, attorney for two people charged in the case, said he was “flabbergasted” by the cost of the federal investigation. “They certainly could have paid for the Colombian national debt with the money they used on the wiretaps, so they couldn’t export the problem over here,” Ragen said.

None of the requests for wiretaps submitted by Nunez’s office was turned down. In fact, the report said that last year in the entire United States only one application for electronic surveillance was denied by a federal judge.

In the government’s investigation of the cocaine ring allegedly headed by Peruvians Augustin Fernando Maurtua and Jose Antonio Ledgard, Enright and another federal judge, Gordon Thompson, authorized seven wiretaps between Feb. 21 and Nov. 28, 1984.

Enright authorized another request for electronic surveillance on June 6 that cost $1.3 million. But it could not be determined on Wednesday if that wiretap was tied to the Maurtua-Ledgard case.

By law, all federal judges and U.S. attorneys have to submit annual reports to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, listing the number of wiretaps authorized and denied as well as the cost for each authorization.

The number of wiretaps granted by federal judges jumped nearly 40% last year. Federal judges granted 289 applications in 1984 to place listening devices on telephone lines or to place a microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, contrasted with 208 in 1983, a 38.9% increase, the report showed.

A secretary said that Nunez was out of town Wednesday and unavailable for comment. Peter Bowie, Nunez’s chief assistant, said through his secretary that “he hasn’t had an opportunity to verify the information” contained in the report.

No explanation or breakdown of the costs was included in the report, but it is known that numerous federal agencies were involved in the investigation.

Federal prosecutors indicted 98 people in the Maurtua-Ledgard case, calling it a major international cocaine ring. Most of those indicted are North County residents.

Federal wiretaps authorized in 1984 by judges of the U.S. District Court in San Diego, the first five of which were used to investigate the drug ring allegedly headed my Maurtua and Ledgard, with the name of the judge authorizing the electronic surveillance and the cost, were:

- Feb. 21--authorized by Judge Enright, cost, $676,392.

- April 10--authorized by Enright, cost, $680,782.

- July 23--authorized (actually given on July 17) by Enright, cost, $1.6 million.

- Sept. 5--authorized by Enright and

extended on Oct. 15 and Nov. 28, cost, $4.5 million.

- Sept. 14--authorized by Thompson, cost, $669,062.

- May 24, 1983--authorized by Judge Leland C. Nielsen (included with last year’s report because the investigation continued into 1984), cost, $15,039.

- Nov. 18, 1983--authorized by Judge Howard B. Turrentine (included with last year’s report because the investigation continued into 1984), cost, $123,285.

- Feb. 22--authorized by Judge Judith N. Keep, cost, $2,259.

- March 26--authorized by Thompson, cost $28,774.

- June 6--authorized by Enright, cost, $1.3 million.