Wrong Number Leads to Arrest

CATCHING DRUG DEALERS IS GETTING MORE DIFFICULT

Sometimes being a cop means you have to be a super sleuth, and other
times it does not.

Imagine Fredericksburg police Lt. Brent Taylor's surprise when he
answered his new cell phone and the person on the other end was
setting up a drug deal.

No need for Watson on this one. Taylor glanced down at the name on the
caller ID. Then he suggested the deal go down at a Stafford 7-Eleven.

Knowing the caller thought he was talking to the person who used to be
assigned the phone number, Taylor mentioned that he was a bit busy but
would send a close associate so the dealer wouldn't get scared when he
didn't recognize the buyer.

"I hung up the phone and called the Stafford sheriff," Taylor said,
chuckling.

The caller met that close associate and lots of other people--all
armed and carrying badges.

Well, it would probably make life a lot easier, but drug busts are
almost never that easy, narcotics detectives say.

In fact, detective work has gotten more challenging in recent years,
says Gregory Wigglesworth, who is in charge of the Fredericksburg
narcotics division. The division consists of four detectives and
drug-sniffing pooch, Scout.

"In the old days you could pretty much drive up to a drug deal and see
it going down," Wigglesworth said. "I'd say that's pretty much a thing
of the past."

Gone are the days when drugs and money were swapped in alleyways and
parks. Nowadays, cops say, traffickers use the cell phone to set up
deals. Then they meet behind closed doors at private houses.

"Cell phones and pagers have taken us to a new level of detective
work," Wigglesworth said. "The drug dealers pay people to do
countersurveillance. It's a little bit of a different way of operation."

Stafford Sheriff Charles Jett agreed: "Every time we come up with
something, they come up with a new tactic."

So narcotics detectives rely a little more heavily on snitches,
officially known as confidential informants.

But getting informants has gotten more difficult, too, Wigglesworth
said.

In the past people who were busted for trafficking or possession
charges were often given the option of working as an informant in lieu
of jail.

Nowadays, Wigglesworth said, penalties are less severe. For instance,
a user, busted for the first time, could be sentenced to community
service, making it harder for police to convince that person to become
an informant.

"We just have to work harder," Wigglesworth said.