SEIZED CASH AND PROPERTY FUND DRUG FIGHT

A house or patch of land is used to store or grow a crop of marijuana or
another drug. A car or truck is used to transport drugs across the country.
Thousands of dollars are made by selling drugs.

Money and other assets seized from drug busts made by the Metro
anti-narcotics task force and other law enforcement agencies battling the
flow of drugs into Coconino County go directly to fund that battle through
the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act.

The federal act was created in the 1970s in order to fight the effects of
organized crime.

"In our county, drugs are the big issue," said Terence C. Hance, Coconino
County attorney of the county's version of the federal RICO Act.

The premise is this: Money and property that is the fruit of illegal
activity or money or property that is used for illegal activity is forfeit.

Hance said that, theoretically, a person caught with a joint in a car can
have the RICO statute applied. But that rarely happens, he said, because
the emphasis is on the drug dealers not the users.

"The property seized has to be proportionate to the crime committed," Hance
added.

As an example on how the process works, Hance said a car used to transport
drugs would be seized by the involved law enforcement agency. Then, a
notice of forfeiture would be filed in court. The county attorney's office
is then obligated to notify the past possessor of record who may have an
interest, like a lien holder.

A hearing is set. A trial is available for claimants to establish a
defense. Hance said typical defenses include: I'm the real owner and had no
idea the property was being used this way; or I'm a lien holder and I had
no idea it was being used this way; or It really wasn't being used this way.

Hance said only between 10 percent and 20 percent of all forfeiture
proceedings are contested.

Once the proceedings are complete, money is put into a bank account, and
real property is sold at auction, Hance said. The money received from
auction is also placed into the bank account.

"Locally the vast majority of organized criminal activity comes from
outside the community," Hance said. "The entirety of our RICO business is
from drug-trafficking offenses."

Hance said as long as his office has to prosecute drug-interdiction cases,
the money is indispensable. Without the RICO funds, the county would not
have the resources to investigate and prosecute drug interdiction cases.

The brunt of the business comes from drug transportation cases that
originate on the county's stretches of Interstate highways. Officers with
the Arizona Department of Public Safety are the main suppliers of
forfeiture business, Hance said.

Metro is another provider of RICO cases.

Cars and cash make up to 98 percent of the seized property, Hance added.
The historical yearly average of money that goes into the county's RICO
fund is $250,000 to $300,000.

"It's just enough to pay for our federal grant matches," Hance said.

Hance said a board made up of officials from all of the county's law
enforcement agencies determine to whom the assets are distributed. A
certain amount goes to Metro and other law enforcement agencies devoted to
drug interdiction.

"Some of the money goes back to the community," Hance said. County agencies
devoted to drug education and prevention can apply for RICO money. Among
agencies funded with RICO money are Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Drug Abuse
Resistance Education, and Citizens Against Substance Abuse.

To apply for RICO funds, interested agencies must file a letter of request
with Hance or Coconino County Sheriff Joe Richards. The request will then
be considered by the board.

"We don't benefit from the assets we seize directly," said Sgt. Randy Weems
of Metro. "Use of those assets are very specific."

The disbursement of the RICO money is highly scrutinized by the Arizona
Criminal Justice Commission, Hance said. An accounting must be made to ACJC
on a quarterly basis.

Law enforcement officers involved in a specific case that seized specific
items cannot bid on those items at auction, Hance said. Even the appearance
of impropriety is not tolerated.

Weems said, as an example of how law enforcement may use seized items, that
if Metro agents seized a car in a drug raid that they believe would help in
their undercover operations, they could apply for the vehicle along with
all other competing agencies.