Source: The Blade Author: Chris Osher, Blade Staff Writer Pubdate: Sunday, 8 March 1998 Contact: http://www.toledoblade.com/ THE HIGH LIFE ON DRUG CASH Port authority spends bust money on vehicles, gym gear, and a desk It's been hailed as an effective weapon in the drug war: Seize the cash, cars, and boats of drug dealers and give the proceeds to local police to help stop drug trafficking. But at the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, it hasn't always worked out that way. Federal drug-fund money has been used by port officials to buy a $26,500 sport utility vehicle for the director of Toledo Express Airport, $20,000 in exercise equipment to outfit a gym for airport police, and a $2,226 desk for the downtown office of the president of the port authority. And then there's the $279 bill to clean a urine-stained carpet at an airport police officer's home after Buster, the airport's drug-sniffing dog, had an accident. Port officials approved these expenses even though U.S. Department of Justice guidelines on the spending of such seized drug assets state: ``Priority should be given to supporting community police activities, training, and law enforcement operations calculated to result in further seizures and forfeitures.'' Just two of the 13 officers at Toledo Express are qualified to participate in drug raids. Mark Fisher, chief of the airport police, defends the spending, saying the use of the drug-forfeiture money means drug dealers, not taxpayers, foot the bill. ``We're not using taxpayers' money, and we have one of the best equipped departments around - and that's a good thing,'' he said. Airport officials do use drug-fund money to directly detect and fight drug trafficking at Toledo Express Airport. In 1996, the drug fund paid $10,600 to unspecified informants Mr. Fisher says helped build cases against drug dealers. That year, a local drug-fighting task force, which includes the two airport officers, seized 16 pounds of marijuana and $60,970 in cash, and made one arrest at the airport. In 1997, the task force confiscated $34,203 in cash, 65 pounds of marijuana, 7.5 pounds of cocaine, and 3 pounds of heroin at the airport. Five arrests were made at the airport. But despite those results, Terry Parham, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, questioned some of the spending from the port authority drug fund. He expressed shock at the $2,226 cost to the drug fund to buy a desk for James Hartung, the president of the port authority, which is responsible for the airport's operations. ``A desk that costs that much? Wow!'' he exclaimed. ``I'm not familiar with anything furniture-wise that would cost that much.'' Mr. Parham said the priority for drug-fund spending should be halting the flow of drugs, not furnishing offices and supplying cars to those with nothing to do with law enforcement. Mr. Fisher said the desk the drug fund bought for Mr. Hartung was just a way to pay the port authority back for handling legal issues and accounting functions for the airport police. Mr. Hartung, who is paid $120,000 a year, this week sought to deflect questions about the purchase of the desk. He released a statement Thursday stating that he had returned the desk and ``credited'' the $2,226 to the drug fund. But port authority financial records show the money was not returned to the drug fund until Thursday, after a reporter began to raise questions about the desk. A police department can use drug-fund money to pay a parent agency for handling such things as the payroll of officers, the department of justice guidelines say. But in such cases, a strict accounting should be kept of the costs for the police use of the payroll system. The port has not kept track of such costs, Mr. Fisher said. Federal regulations ban non-law-enforcement personnel from using cars and trucks bought with drug forfeiture funds, but that didn't stop Mark VanLoh, airport director, from regularly driving home a $26,500 Ford Explorer bought with drug funds in 1995. Mr. VanLoh at first defended his use of the vehicle, saying it is available for airport police officers to use in drug raids, even when parked in his driveway. But after being questioned by a reporter last week, he stopped driving it. He said that although he has been the primary user of the Explorer, he thinks airport police used the vehicle several times a month. He said he didn't document when police took the vehicle and could not cite a single instance when it was used during a drug bust. Nevertheless, he said, the purchase was a legitimate expense from the airport's drug fund because police always had access to the auto. ``My airport committee approved my use of the vehicle,'' Mr. VanLoh said. ``The port authority's board approved this, and at that time it was great because it saved tax money.'' Federal guidelines on the use of seized assets ban the ``use of a shared vehicle or other forfeited tangible property by non-law-enforcement personnel for non-law-enforcement business.'' The penalties for violating the rules governing the use of drug-forfeiture money can be steep. Violations can result in criminal prosecutions or in an agency's being barred from continuing to receive drug-forfeiture funds. Agencies can be required to pay back money used for impermissible purposes. The appropriateness of the purchase of the Ford Explorer Mr. VanLoh has driven would hinge on whether he is considered law-enforcement personnel, said Diane Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington. Each year, airport police receive a portion of the money confiscated locally during drug busts. The money is divvied among local police agencies according to their participation in drug-enforcement activity. Last year, the airport's take of the drug-forfeiture money was $32,000 and the year before that $118,000. The port's drug fund had a balance of $71,600 at the end of 1997. The Explorer Mr. VanLoh drove was one of two bought in October, 1995, at a cost of $26,500 each from a Dayton car dealer. Mr. Fisher, the chief of airport police, said he uses the other vehicle for his personal commute and law-enforcement purposes. The agency bought the Explorers from a Dayton car dealer and not a Toledo dealership because the purchases were made through a state-approved vehicle supplier, said Holly Stacy, a spokeswoman for the port authority. In 1996, the airport's drug fund also bought three new Crown Victorias at a cost of $18,200 each. Mr. Fisher said those cars are used for law-enforcement purposes, although one of his officers is allowed to use one of the cars for his personal commute. Drug-fund money also has been used to set up a weight-training room for use by airport police officers at the airport's safety building. Airport police spent $20,561 to purchase a treadmill, a stationary bicycle, a step machine, a rowing machine, an abdominal fitness machine, and weight-lifting equipment. Mr. Fisher said the exercise equipment is needed to keep his officers in shape. ``I'm not going to spend money on anything illegitimate,'' he said. To Mr. Fisher, the $50,000 expansion of the airport's safety building, the $11,150 rifle range, and the $20,000 in exercise equipment the drug fund bought help his officers perform at peak levels. Last year, drug money bought for the airport a video security system that cost $8,082 and a card printer that cost $6,000 for an identification system. Federal guidelines allow the purchase of ``law-enforcement equipment, such as body armor, firearms, radios, cellular telephones, and computers,'' with drug-forfeiture money. Another beneficiary of airport drug-fund money has been Buster, the airport's drug-sniffing Labrador retriever. Besides paying the carpet-cleaning bill at the home of his handler, Dan Stout, drug funds paid the $370 bill to make baseball-type trading cards that feature Buster on the front. The cards are handed out to local children. And the drug fund paid $547 for a device that automatically rolls down the window of the car Buster rides in to prevent him from overheating on sunny days. Also, when Buster got into a fight with another dog, the drug fund picked up his veterinarian bills. ``Buster and Officer Daniel Stout, his handler, are a great asset in the fight against drugs,'' Mr. Fisher said. ``Buster has been involved in various drug seizures which have resulted in numerous arrests, taking over a million dollars worth of drugs off the street.'' Mr. Parham, the DEA spokesman, still wonders about the priorities of the airport police. ``I don't know if we have anything that would prohibit airport police from redirecting their drug funds, but we try to get them not to do it,'' he said. © Copyright 1998 The Blade.