LPD releases 2007 drug stats

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Statistics released by the Lockhart Police Department last week suggest a successful year in drug enforcement.
According to LPD Chief Mike Lummus, narcotics enforcement in Lockhart during 2007 yielded more than 100 arrests, and upwards of $20,000 in seized drugs and property, including two vehicles.
At the time of

the report, which was released on Dec. 20, the Lockhart Police Department had made 78 arrests for Possession of a Controlled Substance and 28 arrests for Possession of Marijuana within the Lockhart city limits since January. The final statistics for the year should be available by mid-January.
With those 107 arrests, Lockhart police siezed 5 pounds, 7 ounces of marijuana with a street value of around $4,000. Additionally, they seized 2.10 ounces of crack cocaine and 2.9 ounces of powder cocaine, which would bring street prices of $2,500 and $4,000 respectively.
Other property seized during search-and-arrest warrant executions was valued at around $9,700. Two vehicles were also seized.
Heavily-regulated State and Federal guidelines require seized property to be held in evidence for a period of time, after which the property may be sold, with proceeds of the sale going directly back to the police department. Although the money may not be used for training or pay increases, those funds can be invested back into the department in a number of ways, according to City Manager Vance Rodgers.
Lummus said, when releasing the reports, that narcotics enforcement has fallen off a bit since 2006, when numbers for both arrests and property seizures were higher. He said, however, the statistics show an active drug enforcement presence in Lockhart, which the department pledges to continue in 2008.
According to the National Drug Intellegence Center, South Texas leads the nation as a drug-smuggling corridor for both Mexican and local drug traffickers. Enforcement and seizure in the region leads all other regions in the country with respect to cocaine and heroin, and falling just short of Arizona in marijuana seizures.