POLICE OFFICER OF YEAR HELPED SEVER CANNABIS PIPELINE

CHARLESTON ­ The investigation started in August with a small inquiry
into the sale of cannabis in Charleston.

Charleston Police Chief Mark Jenkins said the investigation has since
led to the top of the cannabis' supply line and taken down several
people responsible for the flow of drugs into Charleston, Mattoon and
other east-central Illinois communities.

"It is clear to me that this is not the type of case that a local
police officer develops very often," Jenkins said.

Jenkins said this is why he nominated the officer, Zack Bryan, who
developed that case, for the 2008 Coles County Police Officer of the
Year award from American Legion Post 88 in Mattoon. The legion
presented Bryan with this honor on Jan. 15.

Bryan has served with the Charleston Police Department since 2001 and
has been assigned for the past 18 months to the East Central Illinois
Task Force. Officers from various police agencies in the area enforce
drug laws through this unit, overseen by the Illinois State Police.

The Charleston officer said he is honored to receive the Coles County
award for his role in the investigation but was quick to add that
every officer in the task force took part this case.

"You could not ask for a better group of guys to work with," Bryan said.

Jenkins said the investigation began with a "controlled buy" of five
pounds of cannabis from a man residing on West Polk Avenue in
Charleston. He said the man was arrested and a search warrant was
obtained for his home, yielding 5 more pounds of cannabis and $7,000 in cash.

Investigators followed the supply chain in September to a man in
Danville and then a man in Springfield who were arrested, Jenkins
said. Approximately 100 pounds of cannabis and seven firearms were
seized after a search warrant was obtained for the Springfield
residence, he said.

The Springfield man identified his drug source in Texas and also
identified the location of 96 kilos of cocaine that were being
shipped into Atlanta International Airport in October, Jenkins said.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents confiscated this cocaine from
a shipping crate.

Bryan and Scott Standerfer from the East Central Illinois Task Force
flew to Texas in February and interviewed the source of the drugs,
Jenkins said. This information led to drug investigations in Illinois
and four other states, he said.

Jenkins said Bryan played a leading role in February in a sting that
led to the arrest of four members of the Mexican "Gulf" cartel who
had driven down from Chicago to purchase cocaine that had been
smuggled out of Mexico. He said this arrest led to the seizure of
$49,000 in cash.

The investigation is still ongoing and expanding and includes several
federal agencies now, Jenkins said.

"This investigation has led to the solving of a kidnapping where the
victim was returned safely, and an attempted murder in Champaign
where the victim refuses to testify or speak with the police," Jenkins said.

Bryan said he knew growing up in Moultrie County that he wanted to be
a police officer, particularly in the narcotics field. He said this
work gives him a chance to "really dig into" an investigation and use
a "gift for gab" with those he encounters.

He took his first job in law enforcement at the Charleston Police
Department and has a long range plan to finish out his career there,
Bryan said.

"There is a tight knit, core group of friends I have back here in the
department," Bryan said.