Advertisement

Bush to Find Drug War Continuing

Share
Times Staff Writer

When President Bush stops in Orange County to emphasize his national campaign against drugs today, he will find a community embroiled in its own struggle with narcotics abuse, emphasizing both enforcement and education.

The President’s 2-hour visit, in which he will meet with local dignitaries and law enforcement officials, is scheduled at the scenic 213-acre Rancho del Rio off Ortega Highway, a secluded former hideout for an international drug dealer located near the juncture of Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties.

Officials said Bush will present Sheriff Brad Gates and other law enforcement officials with a check for $4.39 million, their share of a $5.2-million heroin and cash seizure made by the Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression Program in February, 1988.

Advertisement

The money is being returned to the county anti-narcotics task force under a federal program that allows confiscated drug money to be used by law enforcement agencies in the war on drugs.

In a recent interview, Gates said that part of the money will be used to make the regional program self-sufficient and to cover overtime and further investigative expenses of task force members. He also said that part of the money will be used to finance preparations for the President’s visit to Orange County, although Gates said he had no idea how much that will cost.

The countywide narcotics program operates under the auspices of the Sheriff’s Department. Proceeds from cash seizures are apportioned among 28 participating agencies.

Locally, Gates said he hoped that Bush’s appearance and the presentation of the money would help fuel his own anti-drug campaign, which initially focused on enforcement but has increasingly emphasized education.

As a measure of the county’s drug problem, Gates pointed to the seizures by the task force since it began operation Dec. 16, 1986: $38.8 million cash, 8,280 pounds of cocaine, 24 pounds of heroin and 2,200 pounds of marijuana.

Gates said the seizures were enough “to account for 38 million doses of cocaine, 9 million injections of heroin and almost 3 million marijuana cigarettes. That cocaine is enough for about 16 or 17 doses for every man, woman and child who lives in the County of Orange.”

Advertisement

Capt. Tim Simon, director of the regional narcotics force, said the seizures reflected Orange County’s growing importance as a West Coast drug-distribution point.

“The problem with being in Orange County is that you are located 90 miles from an international border, you are in a major population center, and we are astride the major interstate artery for vehicular traffic,” Simon said Monday. “Then, you have a generally affluent community, with airports and a coastline and a nice climate. It is a pleasant place to live for us and a lucrative and pleasant place for the trafficker to distribute his drugs.”

Colombian Nationals

Simon said that most of the major traffickers in the area are Colombian nationals dealing in cocaine.

“In our 2 years, we have see the traffickers develop a kind of an oil-cartel mentality,” he said. “When they want to control the price, they just cut off the faucet, the flow of the drug. There is a tremendous amount of cocaine available in the source countries.”

Simon conceded the validity of Drug Enforcement Administration figures that probably no more than 10% of the cocaine nationwide is seized by police, but he insisted that the effort was effective.

“We have put the pressure on them, but that is not to say we have markedly reduced the amount of cocaine in the county,” he said. “That is difficult to do. But we do feel that we have made an impact on their organization.”

Advertisement

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters said the regional approach was successful “because finally, we have all the local agencies and federal agencies working together.”

‘Key to Success’

“That is the key to success,” he said. “As you know, this area has become the capital for the importation of drugs to the United States. Where we saw it in Florida years ago, it has now moved here.”

Each year since the task force was created, its seizures of both cash and drugs have grown larger, dispelling early doubts about the effectiveness of the countywide enforcement effort.

“I just have this to say to the skeptics,” Gates said. “Two years ago, they said we could never do what we did. All I have to say to those skeptics is: look what we are doing now.”

Acknowledging that even the best enforcement cannot reduce demand, Gates has spent much of the past year in a high-profile publicity campaign challenging business and student leaders to join in his war on drugs.

“What we have had since 1987 is a heck of a lot of John Waynes step forward,” he said. “We were looking for one leader and we’ve had hundreds step forward. I don’t know how much better it could be. What will happen from this point forward, I don’t know. Obviously having the President come here, we hope that the recognition alone will ignite this county even more.”

Advertisement

Across the county, drug education among school-age children has increased, with police in most districts making regular forays into the classroom to lecture under the DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) program.

“Our hope is to get the kids starting out young and impressing upon them that this is not a life style for anyone,” said John Reed, a Santa Ana police officer who teaches 1-hour courses at the city’s elementary schools. “We think it’s important to get them early-on, when they are soaking up information like sponges. They carry this information with them as they get older.”

Advertisement