Officials report successes in targeting violent gangs and drug trafficking operations.
Annapolis, Md (KM) Efforts by the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network to crack down on violent gangs and drug and human trafficking operations have been very successful. That’s according to Glenn Fueston, the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
He says this Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network is a way for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to share information on criminal networks, so they can put them out of business. “We’re trying address violent repeat offenders as often as we can,” says Fueston. “Typically, when we’re looking at that, we’re looking drug trafficking, human trafficking, firearm trafficking and gangs.”
The Frederick Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit and Special Response Team recently served a search and seizure warrant in the 200 block of Bishops Glen Drive in Frederick. Officers found two handguns with the serial numbers scratched out so they could not be identified. They also found scales, packaging materials and a quantity of marijuana that indicated it was being used for distribution. One of the residents was charged with weapons and drug offenses.
“Frederick has been very successful, leading the way, in some of the work that we’re doing by utilizing data to identify some of these criminals, and looking at networks that are impacting the western area of the state,” says Fueston.
The intelligence network also helped the Washington County Narcotics Task Force and federal prosecutors bring about some indictments. “In neighboring Hagerstown, we had an investigation just recently where we were able to identify and connect six different Maryland residents that were trafficking drugs. And we were able to seize enough fentanyl that would have killed over a million people,” he says.
“We’re also sharing information between these law enforcement agencies so that they know whose engaged in each of these criminal networks,” says Fueston. “So they share information on the names, the addresses and the like about those individuals so that they see whose operating in the area.”
The Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network, which was launched in December, is funded by the Hogan Administration through the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
By Kevin McManus