Anaheim, County Reap Big Rewards From Drug Case

A check for more than $1.8 million was handed to Anaheim Police Chief Jimmie Kennedy on Thursday and Sheriff Brad Gates received nearly $500,000, the most generous drug-money awards in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Both men credited a good snout named Winston.

In June, 1984, the Anaheim police, working with sheriff’s deputies and the Drug Enforcement Agency, found more than $4 million--in $5, $10 and $50 bills--stuffed in duffel bags, suitcases and boxes in two Disneyland-area hotel rooms, Anaheim Police Sgt. Vince Howard said.

Anaheim police had suspected the two men who were renting the hotel rooms of being involved in drug trafficking, Howard said. So law enforcement authorities called on Winston, the Sheriff Department’s yellow Labrador retriever.

The dog bit into the bags and suitcases and “sort of attacked them,” an indicator that they had been used to transport drugs or had been set near drugs, Howard said.

The $4,145,754 taken from the hotel remains the largest cash seizure in California history, U.S. Attorney Robert C. Bonner said Thursday at a press conference at the Anaheim Convention Center. The money, considered ill-gotten gains through the sale of cocaine, was turned over to the federal government, Bonner said.

Under a 1984 law, local law enforcement agencies can apply for part of the cash seized in drug-related crimes, depending on the degree of their participation. Bonner called Thursday’s joint $2.3-million award “the largest sharing of drug forfeiture money in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Upgrading Equipment

Chief Kennedy said the $1,843,211 check--40% of the original seizure, plus interest--will be used, in part, to increase the activities of the narcotics force by upgrading communications equipment and buying undercover cars. He said a decision has not been made on how to spend the remainder of the money.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever had the opportunity to try to spend $1.8 million,” Kennedy said. “It’s very exciting, but it’s also a bit frustrating.”

Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates said he intends to see the county’s 10% share of the original seizure, or $460,802, used to further anti-narcotics efforts. “We’re taking money from criminals, and we’re going to use it to put more drug dealers in jail,” he said.

However, the two men arrested in the 1984 seizure were never jailed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Byrd dropped the charges against them because of insufficient evidence. The two men, both illegal aliens, were deported to Mexico, Howard said. Howard added that they were probably “runners,” people who collect small sums of drug money.

Special Fund

The remaining $1.8 million that was seized will go to a U.S. Department of Justice special fund for use by the Drug Enforcement Agency, Bonner said.

At the close of the press conference, Gates said the Sheriff’s Department bought Winston two years ago for about $5,000.

“Sounds like a heck of a good investment,” Bonner commented.