Chandler police: Jamaican drug dealers operating in Valley

by Laurie Merrill - Aug. 11, 2011 11:02 AM
The Arizona Republic

Prominent Jamaican drug dealers have been traveling to Chandler and nearby cities to purchase large quantities of marijuana they often mail back to the Northeast, Chandler police say.

In Chandler, police have arrested more than 130 suspected drug dealers and seized more than $3 million in cash during more than 30 deals this year in which they "supply" marijuana. Police said one trend stands out: A growing number of Jamaicans are getting arrested.

"Many are Jamaicans living on the East Coast," Chandler Lt. John Shearer said. "We believe they are a significant seller of marijuana in the Northeast. To get their marijuana, they come to the Southwest."

The national and international drug trades play out on the streets of Chandler and other Valley communities because marijuana is cheaper closer to the Mexican border than after it is transported to other parts of the country, Shearer said.

"They buy it at a lower cost in the border states," Shearer said of the Mexican-grown drug.

Dealers either drive the contraband cross-country in vehicles or split it into smaller packages and ship it via the U.S. Postal Service and the United Parcel Service, he said.

Chandler police say the soaring number of arrests and seized dollars are hurting major drug organizations, essentially financially.

"There is significant drug trade in this community and in this country," said Shearer, who is in charge of the Special Investigations Section of the Criminal Investigations Bureau. "It is our goal to disrupt these criminal organizations as best we can and to work with I.C.E. to have criminal aliens removed from the country."

Drug reversals, in which Chandler police informants pose as sellers of police-supplied marijuana, make up only about 8 percent of the undercover operations Chandler conducts, Shearer said.

Since July 28, 2010, when Chandler Police Detective Carlos Ledesma was gunned down during a reverse drug sting turned rip-off in Phoenix, Chandler has changed the way reversals are run.

Instead of slowing the pace of reversals, police sped it up.

In dozens of police reports The Republic analyzed, Jamaicans were among suspects playing major roles in many reversals this year.

The most recent was Aug. 2, when three suspected drug dealers were arrested after a reverse sting in which informants were to "sell" 200 pounds of marijuana for $510 a pound in a deal involving two buyers and one middle man. Nearly $100,000 was confiscated.

The suspected middle man, Phillip Timoll, 36, claimed to be a U.S. citizen who was born in Washington D.C. and lives in Jamaica, according to a police report.

Timoll "claimed that he was a self-employed broker of Mercedes parts that he would purchase in the United States and sell in Jamaica," the report said.

One suspected buyer, Anthony Gayle, 46, "claimed to be unemployed and born in Jamaica," documents said.

A third, Bobby Jones, 34, "claimed to be born in the U.S. Islands" and has a criminal arrest history in Arizona, Nebraska, North Carolina and Texas using six aliases, three birthdates and two different Social Security numbers, according to the report.

All three were booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit marijuana-possession for sale, and Timoll and Gayle were also booked on suspicion of money laundering.

Mexican nationals also appear frequently in the police reports detailing Chandler police reversals. Chandler police on Nov. 18 arrested four accused syndicate-affiliated members, three of whom are illegal Mexican immigrants who had outstanding warrants. The suspects were attempting to buy 270 pounds of marijuana for $125,490, police said.

They were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, marijuana possession for sale, money laundering, and charges relating to a crime syndicate.

By July 21, Chandler police had conducted 32 reversal cases, eight more than all of last year, according to records.

From July 2006 to July 21, 2011, Chandler police conducted 100 reversals, made 398 arrests and confiscated nearly $10.5 million, records said.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chan ... z1UloYGikQ