COP BUSTED OVER 'DATE RAPE' DRUGS

Drug agents arrested a Littleton police officer after federal
officials intercepted a package of so-called date rape drugs he
ordered over the Internet, police said.

Jeffrey Daniel Osman, 35, was arrested Tuesday at his home in
Lakewood, where a U.S. Postal Inspector posing as a mail carrier
delivered a package intercepted by the U.S. Customs Service at a mail
facility in Oakland, Calif., said Ramonna Robinson, spokeswoman for
the West Metro Drug Task Force.

The package was addressed to Osman and disguised to look like a puzzle
box. But hidden in the lid were 90 1-milligram tablets of Rohypnol, a
tranquilizer known on the street as "roofies." The drug is illegal to
possess in the United States for any purpose, Robinson said.

"It has been associated as a 'date rape' drug, but we don't have any
evidence to link that use to Mr. Osman," Robinson said.

She said Osman ordered the substance over the Internet from a company
in Thailand and paid by credit card.

The Customs Service discovered the hidden drugs after X-raying the
package. They then contacted the West Metro Drug Task Force, which
assisted in the investigation and executed a search warrant at Osman's
home, she said.

Following the search, investigators also seized 200 Valiums, five
tablets of the depressant Temazepam, and less than an ounce of
marijuana, Robinson said.

Osman was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and booked
at the Wheat Ridge Police Department. He was released pending formal
charges and later suspended with pay from the Littleton Police Department.

He has been a patrol officer with the Littleton department since Sept.
15, 1997. Before that, he worked nine years with the Steamboat Springs
and Central City police departments.

Littleton Police Chief Gary L. Maas met briefly on Tuesday with Osman,
who is one of 68 sworn officers in Littleton.

"Obviously, I don't think there's any police chief in the nation who
would be pleased to have one of his officers engaged in this alleged
conduct," Maas said.

Although Maas said he did not know details of the investigation, he
said the case is a warning to consumers about illegal items they might
find available online.

"A lot of people seem to think if it's available over the Internet
it's somehow OK," Maas said. "The fact that you can order a controlled
substance or an illegal substance over the Internet does not make it
legal."

Contact M.E. Sprengelmeyer at (303) 470-3937 or
sprengelmeyerm@RockyMountainNews.com.