47 SEIZED IN RAID

2-year Probe Yields Drug Trafficking, Firearms Charges

About 180 federal, state, county and local law enforcement officers
descended early Wednesday in Jasper County and elsewhere, and arrested 47
of 62 individuals facing federal and state criminal charges.

Chris Whitley, spokesman for Todd P. Graves, the U.S. attorney for the
Western District of Missouri, said 36 individuals are facing federal
charges and 26 are facing state charges. As of Wednesday night, 28 people
had been arrested on the federal charges, 19 on the state charges.

"The Highway Patrol came in today and rounded up a bunch of people on
warrants for narcotics," said Jasper County Sheriff Bill Pierce at the
county jail in Carthage. "We had five or six (deputies) involved. This
operation has been going on for a long time."

Pierce said he learned about the federal and state arrest warrants about a
week and a half ago.

"It's a big deal to get 50 or 60 warrants," he said.

Representatives of various law enforcement agencies spoke during a news
conference at the Missouri State Highway Patrol's station south of Carthage.

Patrol Sgt. Kent Casey said authorities met at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, and 180
officers from various agencies divided into teams to make the arrests,
which began about 6 a.m.

Casey said there were no reports of injuries during the arrests.

He said the state Department of Public Safety had a command post, a large
bus, at the Carthage police station.

Mark James, a special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, said 104 firearms were recovered during the investigation that
began in November 1999.

"It's been exceptional work by a number of undercover officers," said
Carthage Police Chief Dennis Veach.

Veach said his department was investigating a man and learned from the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service that a drug task force, the Combined
Ozarks Metropolitan Enforcement Team, also was looking into his activities.

"The two groups got together, and they have more resources and they had a
better shot at the suspect," Veach said. "We stepped aside and let them
proceed.

"They have federal agents, state agents so jurisdiction is not an issue."

Veach said the federal and state charges are the result of two agencies
checking the background of the one man in November 1999.

"Two agencies interested in the same suspect, that's how it started out,"
he said.

Whitley said, "A vast majority of the defendants are of Carthage, Joplin
and Jasper County."

Graves said in a statement that the patrol and the Ozarks team, which is
based at Springfield, began a multi-agency investigation of illegal drug
trafficking and firearms sales in Jasper County and other places in
Southwest Missouri.

Dubbed "Operation Cocaine Cowboys," the investigation focused on
individuals who allegedly were responsible for delivering and distributing
cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and other drugs from sources in
California, Texas and Guatemala.

In addition to the Highway Patrol and the Ozarks team, these law
enforcement agencies were involved: the FBI, the ATF, the INS, the Jasper
County Drug Task Force, the Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center
and the Carthage Police Department.

Officers with the Greene, Jasper and Stone county sheriffs' departments,
the Joplin, Springfield, Oronogo and Webb City police departments, and the
U.S. Marshals Service assisted.

The U.S. attorney's statement said: "As charged in a series of federal
indictments and federal criminal complaints, the organization allegedly
distributed illegal narcotics, primarily in Jasper County, but also in at
least four other Southwest Missouri counties (Christian, Greene, Lawrence
and Webster) and elsewhere. Undercover officers made numerous purchases of
illegal drugs and weapons as part of the investigation."

In cases in which an individual could be prosecuted in federal or state
court, Whitley said, federal and state authorities work together to
determine where the accused could get a stiffer penalty.

For example, Whitley said, "Generally for trafficking, the more severe
penalties are on the federal side. We try to get the most prosecutorial
bang for our buck."

Whitley said the individuals facing federal charges will be transported to
Springfield, and those facing state charges will remain in Carthage.

"The federal charges are contained in a series of five indictments that
were returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Jan. 24,
2002, and by a series of four federal criminal complaints filed (Tuesday)
under seal in U.S. District Court in Springfield," according to Graves'
statement.

"The indictments and complaints were unsealed and made public after a
coordinated arrest operation involving numerous law enforcement agencies
that began (Wednesday) morning in Carthage, and subsequent federal court
appearances which have occurred throughout the day in Springfield."