GWINNETT MUST WAGE ITS OWN WAR ON DRUGS

In the history book "Gwinnett County - A little above Atlanta," author
Elliott Brack writes of a time when "People thought of Gwinnett as
corrupt, shady and crime-infested."

With "chop shops," moonshine, a sensational kidnapping and dead bodies
scattered about, the reputation was deserved.

To thwart this moniker, the community and its leadership cleaned up
Gwinnett's act and transformed the county from rural lawlessness to
suburban Shangri-La.

Regrettably, history is repeating itself. Gwinnett is rapidly becoming
known as the workplace for drug cartels.

Google search "Gwinnett drug cartel" and you'll find recent stories
from CNN, the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and USA Today that
identify Gwinnett as the "epicenter" of metro Atlanta's link to
Mexican drug lords.

The description is apt:

. In July, an alleged drug dealer was found severely dehydrated and
badly beaten after being chained and gagged for six days in the
basement of a Lilburn home.

. Four days earlier, Gwinnett police SWAT officers shot and killed a
suspect in the parking lot of a Waffle House in another drug-related
kidnapping.

. In September, police raided a Lawrenceville home belonging to an
alleged leader of the brutal Gulf cartel - a group known for torture,
murder and beheadings in Mexico.

. A recent police campaign unearthed 17 "grow houses" where drugs are
grown or manufactured in the basements of homes nestled quietly amid
Gwinnett subdivisions.

What will keep Gwinnett from completely returning to its 1970s
reputation as a "criminal dumping ground?"

The answer is 287(g).

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes local
officers, once trained, to investigate, detain and arrest illegal
immigrants on civil and criminal grounds. Gwinnett Sheriff Butch
Conway has applied for the program with Dept. of Homeland Security and
believes the county jail eventually will be certified.

This would give local officers the power and the tools to move illegal
aliens toward deportation. It also gives authorities here access to
the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's database - an essential tool
in identifying illegal aliens.

Georgia senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson have contacted
Homeland Security on the sheriff's behalf to encourage quick
certification for Gwinnett. Cobb and Hall counties are already 287(g)
certified.

The delay in Gwinnett may be related to the sheer numbers of illegals
in our jail and the inability of Homeland Security to house, process
and deport such a large number of lawbreakers.

In January, 914 illegal immigrants were at the jail. Perhaps more
startling is that of every 10 foreign-born inmates at the county jail,
seven entered this country illegally.

President Barack Obama is sending 450 federal agents and drug-sniffing
dog teams to the Mexican border - a much-needed step to stem the flow
of drugs into the U.S. and guns into Mexico.

But there are needs farther inland and no place is in more jeopardy
than Gwinnett County. If Gwinnett is to shed its newfound status as
"drug epicenter," we must assemble all resources to wage war on these
villains.

The 287(g) tool is an essential one to have in the arsenal. With the
situation here worsening each day, it can't get here soon enough.

Gwinnett needs to be given the tools to take matters into its own
hands.