DRUG CASE FORFEITURE GIVES POLICE A WINDFALL

Some good detective work helped Alsip police hit the jackpot Wednesday,
when it collected a check for more than $1.8 million--the town's share of a
forfeiture payoff from money its police and federal agents seized during an
anti-drug operation several years ago.

Alsip Police Chief Kenneth Wood accepted a U.S. Treasury Department check
for $1,858,497.73 from Scott Lassar, the U.S. attorney for the northern
district of Illinois. The money, which amounts to about half of the annual
budget of the south suburban police department, will be used to buy new
equipment that otherwise would have been on a wish list, said Alsip Police
Lt. David Snooks.

"There is some equipment we would like to get that we otherwise could not
have afforded," Snooks said. "This is the largest seizure we've had here
and this is the largest cash return. It's going to have long-ranging
benefits for us."

Snooks said the department is considering using the funds to improve its
firearms range and to buy surveillance equipment.

In April 1995, Alsip police received a call from an area storage rental
facility that reported an abandoned 1987 Ford Tempo in a space it wanted to
rent, said Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.

Police towed the car to their lot, and recognized the owner's name from
their surveillance files, Snooks said. The police contacted federal and
state authorities, and drug-sniffing dogs used to investigate the vehicle
showed interest in the trunk, Snooks said.

Alsip police obtained a search warrant for the car and when they opened the
trunk they discovered more than $2.8 million in cash.

"It's a lot of money to see in the trunk of a car," Snooks said. "When they
opened the trunk, the money just fell out it had been packed in so tight."

The money was traced back to a cocaine-trafficking operation that
authorities said was run by Nathan "Nate" Hill, Snooks said.

Hill, 32, who had been on the U.S. Marshal's Service's list of most wanted
fugitives, was caught in January 1998 in the Republic of Guinea in Africa.
He is awaiting trial.

Federal authorities established in court that they had sufficient proof the
money was related to a drug-trafficking operation. When no one came forth
to claim the money, it was forfeited in court, Samborn said.

"Asset forfeiture is one of the most effective weapons that law enforcement
has available in the war against drug traffickers because it takes the
profit out of their criminal activity," Lassar said in a release. "It is an
added bonus that the Alsip Police Department will benefit as a result of
the significant role that it played in this successful investigation."

In such forfeitures, the lion's share of the funds goes to agencies that
assisted in the seizure and a smaller percentage goes to the federal
government, Snooks said. The Cook County state's attorney's office received
a check for $46,483 Wednesday for its assistance in this case.

Checked-by: Richard Lake