Pasadena, Azusa Share $674,050 : Drug Raid Pays Off Big for Police

The Police Department has received $433,318 from the federal government for its help in an investigation that led to the recovery of $962,000 in drug money.

The U. S. Treasury check, presented to the city on Monday by U. S. Atty. Robert Bonner, represents the largest amount the city has ever received for its assistance in a drug investigation, and one of the largest sums ever presented to a local law enforcement agency, Bonner said.

“Except for the Los Angeles Police Department and the sheriffs, this is the largest (check) given to a local police department,” Bonner said.

The money was seized in a raid in Azusa on Oct. 17, 1986, by members of the Pasadena Police Department, the Azusa Police Department and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Bonner said.

The Pasadena department, which joined the investigation at the request of the agency, contributed more than 122 man-hours toward the effort, Bonner said.

Under the Federal Equitable Sharing Program of 1984, money seized in drug raids which has been used in drug trafficking can be redistributed among the law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigation.

The amount allotted to each agency reflects the role the department played in the seizure, Bonner said.

The Pasadena Police Department got 45% of the money seized; the Azusa Police Department got 25%, or $240,732, and the Drug Enforcement Agency 30%, or $287,950.

The money can be used only to supplement the budget of a police department and cannot be used for regular budget expenditures, Bonner said.

The program has proved to be an incentive for local law enforcement agencies to work more closely together, Bonner said.

“It’s fostered even greater cooperation between narcotics federal agencies and local departments, and cemented these relationships,” he said.

The Pasadena department will use the money to obtain more surveillance equipment to help in narcotics investigations, Cmdr. Bob Strosser said.

“It’s an excellent way to provide needed equipment that has not been budgetarily possible in the past and at no cost to the taxpayers,” Strosser said.

Azusa will use its money to buy equipment for its narcotics detail, Police Chief Lloyd Wood said.