The top stories on CBS4.com
Nov 7, 2009 5:01 pm US/Eastern
BSO 2-Day Bust Nets Oxycontin, Prostitutes
DEERFIELD BEACH (CBS4) ―
It is a classic law enforcement technique: arrest a small time player in a drug ring, convince him to give up information and snare an even an bigger player.
At the outset of a massive two day crime sweep through Broward County, Broward Sheriff's Office deputies used that technique to bust a prescription drug ring allegedly selling Oxycontin on the black market.
The bust went down in the parking lot of a Pembroke Pines apartment complex. Deputies seized 500 pills and wad of cash.
Sergeant Rich Pisanti said lower level players pick up the prescriptions then deliver them to a middle man. The middle man then delivers the pills to the higher up. From there, they hit the South Florida streets for sale.
"Many people con the doctors and go in there with an MRI that could be for them, could be for someone else, or they go to an unscrupulous doctor who doesn't care if they have ailment, they give them the pills," Pisanti told
CBS 4's Carey Codd. "They walk out and put (the pills) on the streets."
Pisanti said there is big money in the little pills.
"On the street they cost a dollar a gram," Pisanti explained. "These are 80 grams. So every pill costs 80 dollars. 500 pills at 80 dollars each. The upper level of the conspiracy is making a lot of money."
Pisanti said if the pills hadn't been confiscated they would have wound up on South Florida streets within hours.
"(The suspect) is making his moves tonight," Pisanti said. "Tonight and tomorrow sell out this whole bunch."
This arrest was one of dozens made throughout Broward County for charges ranging from prostitution to probation violations.
CBS 4 cameras were invited along to capture the action.
As of late Friday night, deputies arrested more than 100 people, seized more than a thousand prescription drugs and hundreds of grams of cocaine. Deputies also confiscated several guns and seized more than $40,000. Detectives also arrested two men for trying to arrange to meet children for sex.
"The message that we try to send is that we're watching," said BSO Captain Jim Fondo. "You can try it but there's always somebody watching. And if you keep trying it, you'll get caught."
Fondo said this is the third time this year BSO has conducted this type of major crackdown. The two-day operation was headquartered in Deerfield Beach and the following agencies participated: Hallandale Beach Police Department, Lauderhill Police Department, Sunrise Police Department, Hollywood Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services.
CBS 4 cameras captured the SWAT team serving a search warrant at a Hallandale Beach home where a woman was arrested for dealing prescription drugs. Deputies said they earlier this year they seized hundreds of prescription pills, several guns and tens of thousands of dollars from the same home.
Deputies also conducted numerous street-level drug deals, catching people buying and selling narcotics.
In addition to drugs, deputies also worked to bust prostitutes.
At a Dania Beach hotel, deputies set up surveillance equipment in a room and began contacting women on websites who offer companionship or sex. In an adjoining room, an undercover cop waited for the women to arrive.
One woman showed up and is accused of offering to perform a sex act on the undercover deputy for $180. After the money changed hands and she began to undress, deputies burst in to arrest her.
Later, deputies arrested a man accused of being her pimp.
Sergeant Edward Oman said the stretch along U.S. 1 south of Ft. Lauderdale into the Dania Beach is a known haven for prostitution.
"It's just an ongoing problem," said BSO Sgt. Edward Oman. "Business owners call us and say, 'There's a hooker walking out in front of my place, there's cars pulling over,' and it brings in a bad element -- drug users, sexual predators, guys with warrants."
Throughout the two day operation, the beeping sound of a BSO van backing up into a garage at the Deerfield Beach BSO station rang out over and over. Those arrested walked off the van in handcuffs to be booked by BSO employees.
Some of those arrested left something behind. About a quarter of them agreed to give their DNA so they could be placed on file. Detectives could use that DNA to try and link the suspects to other crimes.
As the evening wore on Friday and the arrests piled up, several suspects hung their heads and shielded their faces.
Detectives, meanwhile, believed that by taking pills, prostitutes and probation violators off the streets, they made the community a tiny bit safer.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Burned Teen's Family Staying Positive
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
