A SNAG IN DRUG TRAFFIC

MARLBOROUGH -- The heroin found on city streets flows in from
Framingham while the large quantity of Ecstasy is brought here from
Worcester.

That is what detectives have concluded after spending almost a year
working undercover.

The end of a 10-month drug operation that resulted in 23 arrests
Wednesday has given Marlborough Police a behind-the-scenes look at
what drugs flow into the city and from where.

Crack and powder cocaine, as well as heroin, marijuana and Ecstasy,
were the most evident drugs bought and sold within the city and nearby
communities during Marlborough's investigation, Lt. Arthur Brodeur
said. Ecstasy was supplied from Worcester while the heroin came in
from Framingham, Brodeur said.

Methamphetamines, or speed, was the only drug police didn't anticipate
to find but did.

Brodeur said with speed originally a drug of the 1970s that started on
the West Coast, it was surprising to find it in Marlborough.

Methamphetamines are the same thing as "crystal meth," and the drug is
homemade, Brodeur said.

"It's home-cooked," Brodeur said. "There are more laboratories being
found in this area now."

While all illegal drugs are risky, Brodeur said people hooked on
methamphetamines can become a serious public danger -- which is why it
was disconcerting to find the drug in Marlborough.

"It just creates more problems," he said. "If you get somebody hooked
(on methamphetamines) and they become a speed freak, they can be
dangerous. Somebody high on 'meth,' they don't feel any pain. You get
very dependent on it. I'd rather confront somebody on (cocaine) or
crack before methamphetamines."

Without the undercover operation, Brodeur said police wouldn't know to
track for methamphetamines or to keep an ear out for possible local
labs where it may be cooked and distributed. Just recently, Brodeur
said, a mini-methamphetamine lab was uncovered in the Webster/Dudley
area.

Knowing what's out there and what drugs and being bought and sold
helps police get a handle on the community, Brodeur said.

"Operation Leopard II" didn't just provide authorities with drug
information. Brodeur said although it won't silence the problem, drug
buys will quiet down for some time now that 23 arrests have been publicized.

"It will put a dent in the activity for a while," he
said.

Any decline in drug activity is worth the time, energy, money and
risk, especially if it leads to an arrest, never mind 23, Brodeur said.

For almost a year, detectives Stephan Lupien and Jack "The Shadow"
Manning spent night after night working with confidential informants,
setting up buys and making hand-to-hand exchanges with drug dealers
and sellers. The investigation spread into nearby communities
including Clinton, Natick and Westborough, where police officers there
worked with Lupien and Manning to help monitor and track drug sellers
and buyers, Brodeur said.

"Clinton was assisting us by using someone undercover just like we
were using someone undercover," Brodeur said. "If it wasn't for
Clinton doing a lot of undercover work here, we wouldn't have had as
many bodies."

According to Brodeur, "a lot" of drugs were bought in Clinton, which
is how that police department got so involved in Marlborough's
"Operation Leopard II."

The suspects range in age from 18 to 43. Charges included everything
from distribution to possession to distributing or having drugs near a
school zone, Brodeur said.

In 1996, Marlborough Police conducted a similar undercover operation
that resulted in about 50 arrests.

And as proof that undercover operations like this pay off, Brodeur
said of the 48 people arrested in 1996, just a few have not ended up
in court.

"One is still on default, he hasn't gone to trial yet because he took
off," Brodeur said. "Other than that, there was one that we decided
not to prosecute. One was dismissed with a $200 court cost, which
basically means they admitted their guilt but offered to pay so they
won't have a record. Everyone else was found guilty and a good
percentage of them went to jail."

While detectives will scrutinize the evidence for months, Brodeur said
as of yesterday, about five pounds of marijuana had been seized, over
100 Ecstasy pills, many grams of crack and powder cocaine -- "I would
say in access of 20 to 30 grams, which doesn't seem like a lot but
you're only buying it in half-gram quantities...and several grams of
methamphetamines."

In addition, five cars had been seized by police.