AGENT SAYS TRANSFER ISN'T TIED TO PROBE OF DRUG RAID

N.H. State Police Claim DEA Disrupted Cocaine Bust By Holding Informant In
Lowell

The agent in charge of the New England field division of the Drug
Enforcement Administration denies his transfer to Texas is linked to a
probe of his agents responsibility in a thwarted New Hampshire drug raid.

John Gartland, who has been with the DEA for 31 years, has been transferred
to Houston.

New Hampshire State Police have demanded answers about a drug investigation
that was foiled last year when an informant was detained in Lowell on the
day of a planned bust in New Hampshire.

State Police said DEA agents with the Cross Border Initiative (CBI) locked
the unidentified informant in a room in Lowell and told him he could earn
more money if he lured the bust into Massachusetts. The man later escaped
through an emergency door, and called New Hampshire troopers to pick him up.

New Hampshire troopers say the DEA action ruined a major cocaine bust
planned for the Concord-Manchester area, to be carried out by state police
and agents from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

CBI includes officers from five federal agencies, the Massachusetts State
Police, Lowell and Nashua police. New Hampshire State Police declined to
join CBI when it was formed six years ago.

Gartland insists the transfer had nothing to do with the incident.

Absolutely not. Theres no connection, Gartland said.

An investigation by the DEAs Office of Professional Responsibility is
continuing.

As far as I know, no criminal wrongdoing has been uncovered, Gartland said.

In December, Gartland told The Sun the allegation raised serious concerns.

He added, The relationship is getting better and better every day between
ourselves and counterparts in New Hampshire.

Of the incident, New Hampshire State Police Lt. Michael G. Hureau wrote, in
a memo obtained by the press: I have never observed such improper and
deceitful behavior by any police officers. The actions of these agents not
only hindered an ongoing investigation, but were totally self-serving, and
in my opinion, border on criminal activity.

Last month, Gartland declined to talk to The Sun about the investigation,
but blasted the leaking of Hureaus memo as tantamount to a criminal act and
cowardly.

Lowell officials have demanded answers about what happened.

City Councilor Rita Mercier asked for a full report from the Police
Department and the DEA.

It looks like one agency was trying to outdo the other in its number of
drug busts at the expense of the city of Lowell, Mercier said after the
incident. Who suffers? The people in this city who are trying to turn our
old image around.

Lowell Police Superintendent Edward Davis, whose officers are part of the
CBI, praised the task forces anti-drug activities. But he told The Sun that
if the New Hampshire allegations prove true, we would have to review all
the facts and reconsider our relationship (with CBI).

Certainly, luring crime into Lowell is not something that we advocate,
Davis said in December.