Local News in Brief : Countywide : $646,668 Check Goes to Anti-Drug Effort
Law enforcement officials received a $646,668 check Friday from the U.S. Customs Commission--a portion of the $718,000 seized in a 1987 drug and money-laundering raid in Garden Grove.
“We’re catching the crooks with the crooks’ money and not the taxpayer’s money,” said Sheriff Brad Gates, who accepted the funds on behalf of the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program.
The program, begun in 1987 to combat the narcotics trade in Orange County, brings together officers from 23 local, federal and state agencies, Garden Grove Police Capt. Tim Simon said.
According to Gates, the program gets back 90% of the money seized in successfully prosecuted drug cases. Twenty-five percent of that goes toward the program’s administrative costs and the rest is divided among participating law enforcement departments.
In the last 2 years, Gates said, the program has seized $32 million in cash, 90% of which is expected to be returned to it over the next 3 years as prosecutions go through the court system.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
