When drug dealers cross jurisdictions, local cops do too

In the world of narcotics enforcement, collaboration is key.

More often than not, when a cocaine dealer is busted or a meth lab is shut down, it’s due to the efforts of several agencies working together to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the community.

Such was the case in November when two Simi teens were arrested on suspicion of dealing heroin throughout East Ventura County. And in September, when a Simi woman was arrested for allegedly operating a cocaine delivery service that covered Simi, Thousand Oaks and the San Fernando Valley.

Simi Police Lt. David Livingstone, who oversees the department’s special operations unit, including the narcotics unit, said the best way to attack the entrenched drug problem is through teamwork: When local agencies work together, more drug dealers can be put behind bars.

“It’s something you can’t do by yourself,” he said.

No boundaries

While collaboration is important in all areas of law enforcement, it’s even more critical when it comes to narcotics because drug dealers know no boundaries.

Detective Sgt. Robert Thomas with the Ventura County Sheriff ’s Department’s narcotics unit said the drug trade is all about greed, so dealers will travel long distances if it means they’ll turn a profit.

“Dealers, they cross jurisdictional lines with no regard. They go where the business is,” said Thomas, who’s been in narcotics enforcement since 1995.

As supervisor of the East County street team, which is responsible for stopping the flow of drugs into the department’s eastern communities, Thomas is especially familiar with the narcotics trade in Simi Valley, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks.

“Sometimes our investigations take us to L.A. or Kern County or Santa Barbara County because people from those counties are delivering narcotics into our county,” he said. “So they become a Ventura County problem.”

The drugs in Simi come mostly from Los Angeles and western Ventura County and Calabasas, Livingstone said.

Because there are so many avenues for drugs to enter the city, local agencies must work cooperatively with each other and with their state and federal allies.

Livingstone, a 20-year veteran on the force, said communication enables officers to see the big picture instead of a narrow, local perspective.

“It’s kind of like taking out a weed: You don’t want to get just the top part, you want to get the roots. It’s the same with narcotics,” he said. “You want to get it at its source and sometimes we can’t do that unless we have the help of other agencies.”

The network

On the local stage, the main players in the fight against narcotics include the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the Simi and Thousand Oaks police departments, and the county district attorney’s office.

While Thomas’ unit— which includes a D.A. investigator and a Simi narcotics detective— concentrates its efforts on the everyday street-level dealer, the team did nab a major violator last June.

Along with the Simi Police narcotic unit and the district attorney’s bureau of investigation, his unit concluded a monthlong investigation into a group responsible for selling cocaine in Ventura County. The detectives seized 1 kilogram of cocaine and more than $500,000 in cash.

Thomas said this big bust was the result of several agencies coming together, sharing information and resources.

“The more collaborating and networking we do, the more arrests and more seizures there are,” he said.

Livingstone said narcotics detectives also receive tips from anonymous sources; from confidential informants, who sometimes make controlled narcotic purchases; and through arrests made by patrol officers.

Once the unit learns of a potential distributor, the hard work begins: collecting enough information to establish probable cause to get a search or arrest warrant.

“It’s kind of like a big puzzle,” Livingstone said. “You have to kind of start piecing it together.”

During this stage one of the biggest allies for narcotics officers is the D.A.’s office, which helps the police build a solid case and makes sure any assets that come from illegal drug transactions are seized.

New trends

Livingstone said incidents involving heroin in Simi have increased recently, a trend reflecting what’s going on nationwide as the supply of tar heroin has gone up.

The lieutenant has seen teens as well as people in their 50s and 60s using and dealing heroin.

Thomas said prescription drugs like OxyContin and Xanax have also become increasingly popular.

While trends change, one something that remains constant is that drug habits almost always produce other criminal behavior, Livingstone said.

“Narcotics breed other crimes,” he said, including violent crimes.

He said someone who purchases even a small amount of drugs is encouraging and sustaining the violence and crime that surrounds moving those substances into the U.S.

“Someone may just say I’m purchasing a small amount for my own personal use, I’m not hurting anybody . . . but ultimately they’re a cog in that wheel,” Livingstone said.