51 NABBED IN OVERTOWN BUST; MANY FACE MULTIPLE CHARGES

Miami Police announced Monday the arrest of 51 people in a neighborhood
sweep aimed at street-level drug sales in Overtown.

Over a month and a half, undercover officers bought cocaine, marijuana and
heroin repeatedly from corner sellers, so that they could file multiple
charges and keep the dealers in jail longer.

"We are sending a strong message," said Police Chief Raul Martinez. "If you
are dealing drugs in the city of Miami, you are dealing to city of Miami
police officers.

"You may not get caught right away for it, but a couple of months later
your pictures will be up here," Martinez said, pointing to a spread of mug
shots on a poster board in the Police Department lobby.

Lt. Armando Guzman said the drug busts -- mostly conducted Friday --
weren't the typical narcotics detail.

"We didn't recover millions of dollars," said Guzman, commander of the
special operations unit that made the busts. But officers did arrest dealer
suspects with extensive criminal pasts, such as Harold McIntyre, 45, of
1510 NW 1 Ct., who allegedly sold one rock of crack cocaine to an officer.
The arrest Friday was his 37th.

The sweep also netted a murder suspect, Joshua Hamilton, 20 of Overtown,
who police say shot Demond Henderson in November during a fight over a
jewelry store robbery. Officers spotted him while arresting other suspects.

As of Tuesday afternoon, police were still searching for 15 other suspects.

The sweep, dubbed Operation Got You Now, was part of a citywide clean-up
effort that started in Liberty City, moved to the West Grove and now Overtown.

Officers started the sweep with the aim of keeping those arrested jailed as
long as possible. They looked for ways to increase charges and keep bonds
high, Martinez said.

They began with maps of Overtown, marking each school, church and day-care
center. Those who dealt drugs within 1,000 feet of those facilities,
according to state law, face a minimum three-year prison sentence.

Undercover officers also conducted repeated stings, buying from the same
dealers over and over to beef up charges, Martinez said. One of those
arrested, Dale Ozell, 46, of 2748 NW 48th St., was accused of dealing
cocaine to officers five times. He faces a bond of $90,000 and, if
convicted, a minimum of 15 years in prison.

Within minutes of Friday's roundup, police say tips poured in on other
suspects. The arrests elated Overtown activist Irby McKnight, who was
watching a Christmas play at the Lyric Theater on Friday night when the
calls came in.

Look outside, the excited voices said. Watch the police cars. He noticed
the difference as soon as he emerged.

"Something had happened. There were so few people in the streets," McKnight
said.

He came to the news conference Monday to remind the city that job and home
ownership programs are needed in Overtown to ensure more people do not turn
to drug dealing to fill the void.

"We need to replace this scourge with something positive," McKnight said,
"or it will return."