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Hispanic drug crime arrests high in county
Area law officers say they aren't targeting immigrants unfairly
By MATT STEWART
The Times

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Hall County Sheriff's Lt. Scott Ware first heard of the infamous Mexican drug cartels in the early 1990s. A lifelong Northeast Georgia resident, Ware didn't believe anything resembling a drug cartel existed in his stomping ground.

Ware, now head of the sheriff's office Multi Agency Narcotics Squad, isn't so sure anymore.

Though Ware doesn't say a definite Hispanic drug ring exists in Hall, the number of Hispanics arrested in drug trafficking cases within the last recorded year is alarming.

From July 1, 2004 to July 1, 2005, Hispanic males made up 71 percent of drug trafficking arrests made by drug agents in Hall County, according to MANS records.

White females were the next highest ethnicity and gender arrested for trafficking drugs in Hall, but accounted for only 12 percent of those arrests.

"We've found the larger distribution cases have involved Hispanics," Ware said, adding that most illegal drugs in Hall trafficking cases are believed to have come from out of the state and, in some cases, out of the country.

Drug trafficking is the sale or distribution of an ounce or more of cocaine, crystal methamphetamine or other high profile drug, Ware said. Ten or more pounds of marijuana also constitute drug trafficking, he said.

Powder cocaine, crystal meth and marijuana are most common among Hispanics who are arrested, Ware said. Those are the main drugs sold and distributed by whites and blacks as well, although those ethnic groups are involved in more mid-to-lower level drug arrests in Hall, he said.

Ware said he could not determine why Hispanics were involved in drug trafficking in so many cases. Arturo Corso, a defense attorney in Hall, said poverty might be forcing some Hispanics to resort to drug-related crimes to make money.

Corso, who represents many Hispanic clients, said many times those arrested serve as a "middle man" in the delivery of drugs and are not involved in the manufacturing or sale of the drugs.

The most recent drug trafficking arrests in Hall, one a record-setting cocaine seizure, involved Hispanic men, many of whom are undocumented immigrants.

An undercover Gainesville-Hall County Gang Task Force operation last week resulted in the arrest of four Hispanic men Feb. 10. About 103 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $200,000, was recovered in the drug sting.

Three of the four men arrested were illegal immigrants.

Three weeks earlier, two Hispanic men from Lawrenceville were arrested in connection with a Hall County record-setting cocaine bust. Nearly 88 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $4 million, was seized.

Both suspects, one an undocumented immigrant, face federal charges, Ware said.

"We've found that the people here legally are not involved with drugs, they're here to make a better life for themselves," he said. "Those here illegally, who can skate in and out of the country, break one law and find it's even easier to break another law."

Despite the alarming trend in the drug trafficking arrests of Hispanic men, the majority of them illegal immigrants, Ware said his agency isn't targeting Hispanics.

When it comes to all types of drug-related arrests made by MANS agents, the numbers back Ware up.

Over a two-month period from Dec. 1, 2005 to Jan. 31, 2006, MANS agents made a total of 68 drug-related arrests. Of that total, whites made of 47 percent of those arrested. Hispanics were at the bottom of the list over the two-month period, accounting for just 20 percent of all drug-related arrests.

Ware says the MANS unit also doesn't know whether a Hispanic suspect is undocumented until an investigation is conducted by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We usually don't even know their name until they're arrested," he said. "We go after whoever is dealing in drugs."

Gainesville Police Department officer Joe Britte, who has worked with Gainesville's Hispanic community for years, said his department also isn't targeting by race or ethnicity.

"We have strict racial profiling (rules and regulations) and we follow them to a 'T'," Britte said.

Corso, one of only a handful of Spanish-speaking lawyers in Hall, agrees that immigrants are not being targeted by Hall authorities. He also commended MANS for its work against drug trafficking.

Corso, however, said he does think some legislators are targeting immigrants. He cited a recent bill passed by the Georgia House of Representatives that would levy a surcharge on international money transfers made by illegal immigrants.

The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. James Mills, R-Chestnut Mountain. Corso referred to the bill as "hillbilly politics."

"(Such legislators) treat voters like hillbillies, able to unite only behind single-issue prejudice, for example anti-immigration, rather than creative legislative initiatives lifting up Georgians," Corso said.

"It's easy to get on the 'bash the immigrants' bandwagon."

Contact: mstewart@gainesvilletimes.com, (770) 718-3432

Originally published Saturday, February 18, 2006