Pubdate: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 Source: Metrowest Daily News (MA) Copyright: 2003 MetroWest Daily News Contact: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/619 Author: Kristen Bradley A SNAG IN DRUG TRAFFIC MARLBOROUGH -- The heroin found on city streets flows in from Framingham while the large quantity of Ecstasy is brought here from Worcester. That is what detectives have concluded after spending almost a year working undercover. The end of a 10-month drug operation that resulted in 23 arrests Wednesday has given Marlborough Police a behind-the-scenes look at what drugs flow into the city and from where. Crack and powder cocaine, as well as heroin, marijuana and Ecstasy, were the most evident drugs bought and sold within the city and nearby communities during Marlborough's investigation, Lt. Arthur Brodeur said. Ecstasy was supplied from Worcester while the heroin came in from Framingham, Brodeur said. Methamphetamines, or speed, was the only drug police didn't anticipate to find but did. Brodeur said with speed originally a drug of the 1970s that started on the West Coast, it was surprising to find it in Marlborough. Methamphetamines are the same thing as "crystal meth," and the drug is homemade, Brodeur said. "It's home-cooked," Brodeur said. "There are more laboratories being found in this area now." While all illegal drugs are risky, Brodeur said people hooked on methamphetamines can become a serious public danger -- which is why it was disconcerting to find the drug in Marlborough. "It just creates more problems," he said. "If you get somebody hooked (on methamphetamines) and they become a speed freak, they can be dangerous. Somebody high on 'meth,' they don't feel any pain. You get very dependent on it. I'd rather confront somebody on (cocaine) or crack before methamphetamines." Without the undercover operation, Brodeur said police wouldn't know to track for methamphetamines or to keep an ear out for possible local labs where it may be cooked and distributed. Just recently, Brodeur said, a mini-methamphetamine lab was uncovered in the Webster/Dudley area. Knowing what's out there and what drugs and being bought and sold helps police get a handle on the community, Brodeur said. "Operation Leopard II" didn't just provide authorities with drug information. Brodeur said although it won't silence the problem, drug buys will quiet down for some time now that 23 arrests have been publicized. "It will put a dent in the activity for a while," he said. Any decline in drug activity is worth the time, energy, money and risk, especially if it leads to an arrest, never mind 23, Brodeur said. For almost a year, detectives Stephan Lupien and Jack "The Shadow" Manning spent night after night working with confidential informants, setting up buys and making hand-to-hand exchanges with drug dealers and sellers. The investigation spread into nearby communities including Clinton, Natick and Westborough, where police officers there worked with Lupien and Manning to help monitor and track drug sellers and buyers, Brodeur said. "Clinton was assisting us by using someone undercover just like we were using someone undercover," Brodeur said. "If it wasn't for Clinton doing a lot of undercover work here, we wouldn't have had as many bodies." According to Brodeur, "a lot" of drugs were bought in Clinton, which is how that police department got so involved in Marlborough's "Operation Leopard II." The suspects range in age from 18 to 43. Charges included everything from distribution to possession to distributing or having drugs near a school zone, Brodeur said. In 1996, Marlborough Police conducted a similar undercover operation that resulted in about 50 arrests. And as proof that undercover operations like this pay off, Brodeur said of the 48 people arrested in 1996, just a few have not ended up in court. "One is still on default, he hasn't gone to trial yet because he took off," Brodeur said. "Other than that, there was one that we decided not to prosecute. One was dismissed with a $200 court cost, which basically means they admitted their guilt but offered to pay so they won't have a record. Everyone else was found guilty and a good percentage of them went to jail." While detectives will scrutinize the evidence for months, Brodeur said as of yesterday, about five pounds of marijuana had been seized, over 100 Ecstasy pills, many grams of crack and powder cocaine -- "I would say in access of 20 to 30 grams, which doesn't seem like a lot but you're only buying it in half-gram quantities...and several grams of methamphetamines." In addition, five cars had been seized by police. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin