COPS BUST SMALL FISH IN SEARCH OF BIG ONES

He was 33, black and riding in a car in East Harlem. He stopped and
got out to talk to a friend, then got back in and drove on.

A half-block away, two unmarked police cars pulled him over, one in
front, one behind. Undercover cops surrounded him, guns drawn, and
told him to get out of his vehicle.

They frisked him and found two nickel bags of marijuana. He was taken
to the local stationhouse and questioned.

"They know you're a little fish, but they wanna catch somebody," said
the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

"They wanted to know who was selling drugs. They talked about seeing
me out on the block all the time. They said they knew I was connected.
All of that was bull. They wanted me to tell them who was out there
doing what."

He was used to the routine, it had happened to him twice before.
Small-time pot busts have become a fact of life in some of the city's
neighborhoods.

After spending the better part of a day at the stationhouse while the
police rounded up other marijuana offenders, he was taken with a dozen
others to Central Booking.

He spent another day and a half in jail there, waiting to go before a
judge.

"By the time I saw the judge, it was almost three days," he said. "He
said, 'Time served,' and gave me a fine, $100. That was it. I walked."