69 people arrested in ``Operation Family Affair'' drug bust

[TransitJohn]

NEW YORK (AP) _ An 18-month investigation called "Operation Family Affair" led to the arrests of 69 people on charges that they took part in a major drug trafficking operation that used children as lookouts and runners, prosecutors said.

Many of the suspects have family ties, prosecutors said. Five crews agreed on territory within the Remeeder, Unity and Long Island Baptist housing projects in East New York and sold about $11 million yearly in crack cocaine or heroin, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said Thursday.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--drugtraffickingar0827aug26,0,1815750.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[Must_B_Free]

1. I wonder how they decide who is a perp and who is a victim?

just an arbitrary age line?

[Baja Margie]

2. Just another reminder

of how we have lost the "war against drugs'. Gee, I guess the 'just say no' program was really effective.

[Scurrilous]

5. I know who the winner of this war on drugs is...

...cops, lawyers, bail bondsmen, judges, parole officers, and jailers. They 'won' permanent employment.

[0007]

8. You forgot to add the politicians who are making the most money

[Alpharetta]

9. another winner: contractors who build prisons

their lobbyists are the ones who push the lockem-up and throw-away-the-key philosophy. Much better to incarcerate an addict and split up a family than it is to get treatment for an addict, they say. family values.

[tooncesj0nes]

11. OH PLEASE!!!!!

....everytime I read one of these drug bust threads, the response is predicatable. No one EVER mentions that one of the 'winners' might be the law abiding citizens who live in these neighborhoods and are trying to raise their children to be something more than people who take the easy way out. Ive been a landlord for 20 years. To have dealers operating in a neighborhood is demoralizing to the people who play by the rules.Ive seen plenty of freeloaders and sociopaths that know the system will only give them a slap on the wrist... why dont you guys comment on aspects of the rap music industry that glorifies this lifestyle? ...BTW- the responses on this thread are a good representation why moderate voters tend to hold a liberal agenda as suspect and flawed.

[SOS]

12. Similar conditions

existed in the Neddle Park area of Zurich Switzerland.
Dealers, muggings, burglaries, HIV spreading, homeless camps....
Then Zurich made the drugs legal for registered addicts.
The area is now clean and crime in the city is down 80%.

[coalition_unwilling]

13. Take a look at the demographics of the U.S. prison population

Over 2 million incarcerated, on probation or on parole, most for non-violent drug-related offenses, and the highest % in any Western country.

While I sympathise with "law-abiding citizens who live in these neighborhoods", can one not both have sympathy and recognize the diaster of a failed policy?

In other words, is a police-militarized response the best way to deal with, seen through one lens, is just good, ole' American capitalism at work? Standard economic theory predicts black markets grow up (with high risk\profit potential) to satisfy demand. We saw it play out during Prohibition, which just makes the most recent incarnation (when policy-makers should have been able to learn and apply the lessons of history) all the more cruel and dehumanizing.

[uncle ray]

15. some of us understand that people are gonna use drugs

one way or another. provide a legal form of distribution, and there is no reason to have kids used in trafficing. take the crime out of drug posession and distribution, and people won't feel the NEED to operate this way. if we were at that point, we would be on your side, zero tolerance for people who involve kids with drugs.

it's the brainwashing of the moderate voters that causes them to see the decrim agenda as suspect and flawed.

yes there are irresponsible drug users, just as there are MANY responsible users. same with drinkers or cig smokers. learn the difference and how to deal with each. don't lock us all up to get the irresponsible ones.

[IA_Seth]

16. Name ONE

Please name ONE rapper who glorifies crack sales...

Marijuana, yes, but if you think Marijuana is as bad as crack I guess there is a lot for you to learn.

Rap music is an expression of reality, not something that creates reality.

[DrWeird]

20. Yes, it's rap music's fault.

And all that extra melanin sure makes these people degenerate.

[Alpharetta]

21. Prohibition failed because of jazz music?

Yep. Making liquor illegal is not why organized crime flourished during Prohibition. I blame jazz music for glorifying all that drinking and partying and gangsters too.

(that was sarcasm at the RAP music comment above)

[SheepyMcSheepster]

14. i fear that people tyring to keep their funding/jobs is the biggest enemy

of drug law reform. people have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are.

[progressivebydesign]

17. NO.. the winners of this bust are the CHILDREN.

Sorry you guys are always so quick to defend drug dealers. The children, who have been brought into a deadly, guaranteed failure, lifestyle in a drug selling family.. THEY are the losers in the drug operations... they winners today are the kids taken out of that.

Oh yeah.. I forgot. The war on drugs is dumb because we should be able to buy and sell meth, acid, cocaine, and heroin legally. I forgot. I think that would really be a great thing for american families /sarcasm off.

edited headline to correct Bushism.

[Jack_DeLeon]

24. the "lifestyle" is deadly....

because of the war on drugs.

Making and selling alcohol used to be a deadly lifestyle back in the day when it was illegal.

Now at days I would hardly say that the children of beer producers are brought up into a deadly, guaranteed failure lifestyle.

[DeadHead67]

3. BAPTIST Housing Projects ?!!!! HUH?!!!. . . .

. . .Is this a 'faith based initiative'? Hmmmmm!!!

[Chovexani]

4. Um, okay.

East New York is one of the worst areas in the city, and certainly in Brooklyn (tho' Brownsville might give it a good run for its money).

There's parts of East New York that look like Dresden after the bombings. Gunshots at night and people shrug. Terrible.

It has gotten somewhat better but it is still an awful area. I'm glad they're trying to clean it up, but I feel sorry for the kids in this story. They are always the ones that suffer the most.

[progressivebydesign]

18. I worked at a home for abused and neglected kids...

Drugs were present in the homes in almost every instance. Sad.

[Tsiyu]

6. So they "caught" some little kids acting as lookouts

Ahem,,,,Uh......Hate to ask....but

Have they found Osama?

[Jack_DeLeon]

23. Is looking out even...

a crime? :shrug:

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. And where does all this crack cocaine come from?

It's brought to you by your good friends at Bu$hCo.

[Radius]

10. DSS

You might want to talk to someone in Social Services about drugs and kids. DSS routinely takes infants to hospitals for cocaine poisoning, chemical burns and poisoning from meth labs, and from people who are so fucked up on crack that they don't feed their kids or themselves. No job, social security and foodstapms all go to crack. I live in a relatively small city. Coke has been fucking up peoples lives long before bush was in office and opiate drugs have been killing people for hundreds of years.

I had a good friend in college OD on heroin, 23 dead, fucking waste.

Pot should be available like alcohol, the rest of it can cause problems. I'm sure lots of people here have done a few lines or dropped acid and keep things in check. There are lots of people who can't keep cocaine in check.

[FeebMaster]

19. Maybe they should make cocaine and heroin illegal then. (nt)

[Jack_DeLeon]

22. 69 more people who have had thier lives ruined...

by the war on drugs.