Pubdate: Mon, 28 Dec 2009 Source: Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ) Copyright: 2009 Arizona Daily Star Contact: http://www.azstarnet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/23 Author: Kim Smith, Arizona Daily Star PIMA'S NEW BORDER UNIT TARGETS DRUG CRIME Prosecutors, Police Work Closely to Seize Assets, Get Evidence For the better part of two years, prosecutor Richard Wintory devoted 98 percent of his time to helping law-enforcement officers destroy two of the most prolific and dangerous drug-trafficking organizations they had ever seen in Tucson. They were successful, said Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall. Maria Isabel Dominguez, Donna Greenwell and Timothy Owens are currently serving lengthy prison sentences, along with dozens of their underlings. Still, LaWall and her law enforcement counterparts weren't satisfied. They realized that targeting one or two drug organizations every couple of years would do little to stem the 700,000 or more kilograms of drugs traveling through Pima County every year or the violence that is associated with the drug trade. So LaWall applied for a $1.2 million federal grant that was created with President Obama's stimulus package. She promised to use the money to hire three new attorneys, a legal secretary, a paralegal and two part-time law clerks for a new Border Crime Prosecution Unit that would prosecute five to seven large drug-trafficking organizations over the next two years. She also promised to prosecute 200 of the area's most prolific individual drug offenders over the next two years. LaWall's office was awarded the grant. LaWall made some staffing changes, and the unit, which is made up of Wintory and three other prosecutors, has been up and running for two weeks. An important aspect of the border crimes unit is enhanced communication, LaWall said. Because more prosecutors will be working border crimes, they'll be more readily available to the detectives working the cases, LaWall said. Prosecutors and detectives will be in constant communication, discussing who should be targeted, what intelligence has been gathered, and what evidence needs to be collected and the best way to accomplish that, said Deputy Pima County Attorney Chris Ward, who is the unit's project manager. In addition, regular training sessions will be held. Typically, 50 percent of all cases presented to LaWall's office are rejected for prosecution, often because there's not enough evidence, LaWall said. Police have a lower burden of proof than do prosecutors, LaWall explained. "If cops and prosecutors could work hand-in-hand in every unit, we'd really be able to effectuate the evidence we need," LaWall said. The unit will also work closely with a prosecutor who specializes in forfeitures, LaWall said. "We want to take away all of the assets they've accumulated as a result of their criminal activities," LaWall said. Ward, the unit's project manager, said the unit will go after drug-trafficking organizations that consist of more than 30 individuals who can be prosecuted under the state's criminal enterprise statutes. The organizations will have an established supply source, most likely an actual drug cartel, and will have importation and distribution plans in place, Ward said. Although it's hard to determine just how many such organizations are operating simultaneously, Ward said the unit already has targets in mind. The importance of the unit can't be understated, LaWall said. While 10 percent of all crimes prosecuted nationally are drug- related, the number in Pima County is 28 percent, LaWall said. Over the last year, the Tucson Police Department's new home-invasion unit investigated 150 invasions, LaWall said. An estimated 70 percent of those were drug-related. Authorities believe the drug-trafficking organizations are trying to protect their territory and their product, LaWall said. "Home invasions and drug trafficking are not going to stop because we have this grant, but we anticipate we'll make a significant dent in what we see here in Southern Arizona," LaWall said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake