Pubdate: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) Copyright: 2006 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340 Author: David Gambacorta AMID CHANGE, A RECORD YEAR FOR NARC COPS A LIGHT WIND whips through Hunting Park on a blustery morning, tossing leaves and cigarette butts from one deserted street corner to another. Jim Coolen Jr. settles into the cramped rear of a dilapidated van that he will call home for the next eight to 12 hours. The musty vehicle creaks and groans every time Coolen moves. Most days, it has all the warmth and comfort of an igloo. But the van is the perfect cover for Coolen, a veteran undercover narcotics cop, allowing him to watch a notorious local drug kingpin and his henchmen blatantly conduct their trade on the street. It's all part of a choreographed surveillance operation run by Coolen and other cops in Narcotics Field Unit 2. The unit spent two months earlier this year shadowing the main players of the drug outfit as they moved in and out of the neighborhood. They recorded numerous transactions and videotaped the dealers, who repeatedly sold cocaine to undercover officers. And, when the time was right, the good guys took down the bad guys. Because of operations like these across the city, the Police Department has seized more drugs in 2006 than in any other year. As of Dec. 21, police have confiscated $135 million worth of narcotics and 1,251 guns, compared with $79 million and 1,010 weapons by the same date in 2005. They have seized $11.5 million in drug money; last year's figure was $6.3 million. When cops succeed, they take back one more drug corner from dealers and return it to residents of the block. Often, police lock up dealers who are heartbreakingly young. Some kids enter the drug trade by the time they're 12, veteran cops say. Dealers recruit and pay them to be neighborhood lookouts, to shout "Agua!" or "Five-O!" as a warning every time they spot a police officer. By 13 or 14, they attain veteran status, which brings spoils - including firearms. That troubling reality hit home with Sgt. Robert Friel of Field Unit 2 when he searched a suspected drug house in Frankford last May. Friel stormed up to the second floor and found a 14-year-old boy asleep on a mattress. "I picked him up, and found that he was sleeping on a .40-caliber gun," Friel said. "The main dealers in that house were him and his brother, who's 13. One of them was still in eighth grade. We even found a sawed-off shotgun and an assault rifle in their basement." Youngsters are regularly recruited by drug dealers because "unless they're involved in a shooting, nothing legally significant will happen to the kids," Friel said. "They get arrested and then they're right back on the street again." If they remain free, they move up the drug hierarchy. Between ages 13 and 17, they are educated and elevated to the position of "corner boys." They typically handle resealable plastic bags stuffed with a dozen or so bags of crack cocaine, selling 10 of the smaller bags at $5 a pop for their boss' profit. The corner boys sell the remaining bags and keep the proceeds, giving them a taste of a profitable lifestyle. Corner boys grow up By the time they're old enough to vote, the young dealers have branched out as entrepreneurs, or "independents," cops say. They buy bulk amounts of crack and develop their own clientele and recruit a new roster of dealers. These older, more sophisticated drug dealers draw the attention of narcotics officers. "We're seeing a lot more" of 20-somethings buying bulk amounts of drugs to supply others, Friel said. "These young guys start out as street hustlers, move up the chain quickly and move into big-time sales. They make enough money to easily buy drugs in bulk amounts." They cleverly store their stashes in rented homes, sometimes in unusual locations. Friel said an increasing number of wealthy dealers are renting homes in Northeast Philadelphia, keeping their stashes far away from clients and rivals in other parts of town. "It's quieter, and they're not selling from the [rented] properties, so they don't draw attention," Friel said. "They feel like it's safer up there." Alleged drug supplier Darnell Romel Bolger, 26, thought he was a step ahead of the game by storing his massive stash - more than $6.1 million worth of crack, cocaine and marijuana - on Levick Street near Trotter, in Oxford Circle. But in late November, cops said, Bolger was shot outside his home by would-be rivals planning to raid his supplies. Bolger recovered from his wounds and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on a host of drug-possession charges Feb. 9. It will be the 11th time since 1999 that Bolger has stood before a judge facing drug charges, according to court records. In almost every previous case, the charges were dismissed. "They get a slap on the wrist," Friel said. "The ramifications of getting locked up and going to court are minimal. Nothing happens to these guys." Still, narcotics cops keep chasing their prey. Arrests of drug dealers are up by more than 4 percent this year, with 5,834 dealers locked up as of Dec. 10, compared with 5,433 last year. Arrests of buyers also increased more than 2 percent, to 3,524. Cops have served more narcotics-related search warrants - 1,760, compared with 1,537 last year. "The increase in the level of narcotics seizures is an indication that the officers are working harder, and that there's a significant problem that we're trying to tackle out there," said Capt. Benjamin Naish, head of the police Public Affairs Office. As cops ramp up their pursuit of dealers - and worry that corner boys and lookouts seem to be getting younger and younger - there are always the memorable exceptions. Narcotics Field Unit 2 - Sgt. Friel, Officer Coolen, his father, Officer Jim Coolen Sr., and Officers Matt Beattie, Michelle Proctor, Reggie Fernandez, Jimmy Kidd, Jeff Galazka and Walt Szmatowicz - spent two months studying and ultimately capturing a band of middle-aged dealers who have long run several corners in Hunting Park like their private property. Their primary target was a familiar one: Luis Rios, a portly, balding middle-aged man who, cops say, had a hugely profitable cocaine ring. In 2001, Rios and his cohorts were arrested by Field Unit 2 officers after undercover cops purchased cocaine from his Hunting Park store, the Rios Mini Market, as part of their investigation. They recovered $545,000 in cash from Rios' home on Fanshawe Street near Whitaker Avenue in Lawn Crest, along with cocaine and marijuana stashes and seven firearms at several other properties. Yet when the alleged drug kingpin met his law-enforcement adversaries in court following his '01 arrest, Coolen Jr. said, Rios, 53, was all smiles as he talked about his lost loot. "He said, 'I'll make it back!' " Coolen Jr. recalled, shaking his head. Softball teams and crack Sure enough, Rios beat his charges and Coolen Jr. received a tip in early February of this year that Rios and his gang of graying dealers were up to their old tricks again. They even set up shop at their old stomping grounds outside Rios' rundown mini-mart, on the northwest corner of 8th and Cayuga, and his shuttered deli across the street. "They've changed their habits," Coolen, an 11-year veteran, mused one morning while staring at the mini-market's faded stucco walls and a trio of tattered Puerto Rican flags that hung from second-floor windows. "There's a lot of moving around this time around, but they're still pretty active." Coolen could recite the dealers' routine from memory: Two paunchy guys in their mid-to late 50s would gather by 8 or 9 a.m. outside Rios' properties, sit on old milk crates with small amounts of drugs stuffed in paper cups or underneath the crates, and wait for the neighborhood drug trade to hum to life. The dealers were clad in jackets touting "Los Ardilleros," supposedly Rios' softball team, though cops doubt that a real team ever takes the field. Usually, the men looked like a pair of harmless old-timers. But they pulled off drug deals quickly, speedily swapping coke and weed for a wad of bills. Informants bought $40 or $60 worth of green-tinted zip-top bags that tests found were packed with cocaine. Rios' every move was monitored by the team, who regularly joked about his age and weight. "We do have fun," Coolen Jr. said. "We're relaxed with each other, and we all enjoy working together. Obviously, it shows." They also enjoy a familial bond that extends beyond Coolen Jr. and his dad. "He's been around for longer than mostly everyone here, so in some ways, he's like a father figure to the whole squad," Coolen Jr. said. "It's like working with your best friend." Added Coolen Sr.: "He would be out here doing this without me, so it's great to be here, close to him." In April, Coolen Jr. videotaped an undercover officer purchasing 12 bundles of cocaine for $220 from Rios and one of his cohorts. They quickly cobbled together a plan of attack, and targeted April 12 as the day they would once again take down Rios. Nearly everyone was unnerved by a tip that Rios had numerous weapons, including AK-47s and Uzis. "All you can do is cross your fingers and pray," Coolen said shortly before 9 a.m. that day, once again scrunched over in the back of the old van. "My stomach's in knots, doing flips. You just want everyone to get through this safely." The order for the takedown was given about two hours later, prompting police cruisers to swarm Cayuga Street, seemingly out of nowhere. Rios' henchmen seemed stunned by the flashing lights and sudden activity. They didn't run. In all, narcotics cops served 12 search warrants that day. They made seven arrests, impounded four vehicles, and recovered 18 guns and almost $47,000 in cash. They also recovered 25 grams of cocaine worth $2,500; 1,075 grams of marijuana worth $21,500; seven grams of PCP worth $700, and 247 Xanax pills worth $1,235. Before long, Rios was brought to Cayuga Street in a white Nissan Altima. At first, Coolen Jr. said, Rios insisted that he no longer sold cocaine. When he realized that he was accused of selling coke to an undercover agent, he changed his tune and begged to talk, Coolen said. Rios faces drug and weapons charges and is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Jan. 23. "Look, you always hope for a home run when you go out there," Coolen Sr. said last week, before heading out on yet another investigation. "It feels good when you do get one. Most of us have families, and this job can be brutal on them. But when you make a really a great seizure, you feel like you're doing some good. It makes you feel that it's all worth it." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek