POLICE FEEL BUST WILL AFFECT LOCAL DRUG TRAFFIC

The closure of a major, Midstate drug-trafficking organization will
keep some drugs off the street in Murfreesboro, the city's top cop
said Friday.

"What you saw (Thursday) was a large-scale operation put out of
business," police Chief Glenn Chrisman said. "They took some major
players out of the game."

The supply chain interruption will curb sales on local streets
immediately, he added.

More than 300 officers from 60 agencies executed 22 search warrants on
businesses and homes in Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Davidson
counties. Federal agents made 27 arrests.

Drug Enforcement Administration agent Harry S. Sommers, who oversees
the drug task force that investigated the major network, said officers
confiscated around seven kilos of cocaine, $150,000 cash, numerous
guns, boats, houses and vehicles from properties around the Midstate.

Two homes and two businesses in Murfreesboro were searched, another
home was seized in the investigation.

Thursday's arrests and raids "completely dismantled" the illicit
business suspected of distributing more than $6 million worth of
cocaine and marijuana imported from Mexico since spring, Sommers said.

Chrisman said it is difficult to predict how long street-level drug
sales will be deterred.

"We're not naive enough to think this is a long-term fix, but it will
make a difference," he said. "It's hard to say how long, but it will
have an impact. There's no doubt about it."

The chief hopes the widespread crackdown will make criminals think
twice.

"If you're involved with criminal enterprise, you will get caught,"
Chrisman said. "You never know who's watching, who's talking about you
or who's gathering information about what you're doing."

The sophisticated drug-trafficking organization shut down Thursday
even went to great lengths trying to disguise their business,
according to the indictment.

The suspects used coded language, surveillance and
counter-surveillance techniques to avoid detection, the indictment
says. The defendants and their co-conspirators also conducted
financial transactions designed to conceal their income from the
marijuana and cocaine sales.

"I think the message here is pretty loud," Chrisman said. "Don't break
the law, or else you might find the FBI, the DEA and ATF agents at
your doorstep."

Rutherford County Sheriff Truman Jones was not available for comment.