NCJ Number
109800
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 55 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1988) Pages: 28,30-31
Date Published
1988
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The experiences of the Kansas City Police Department (Missouri) between 1985 and 1987 illustrate the impact of Jamaican/Carribean basin organized crime on drug-related crime nationally.
Abstract
In 1985, information was received that a small group of Jamaican nationals had arrived in Kansas City to initiate a distribution system for cocaine. Subsequent intelligence indicated that a significant distribution network was in operation. Surveillance at an identified safehouse for the Jamaican group resulted in the seizure of significant amounts of cocaine and assets, but had little effect on the organization. Data indicated that over 250 Jamaican nationals, of the 350 to 450 population, were involved in cocaine trafficking. Results of a special task force investigation of the problem found that crack was the top drug of choice in the city and that Jamaicans were being transported for the sole purpose of distributing cocaine but knew nothing of the overall operation. Jamaican workers were paid a commission on street sales and were furnished with firearms. Approximately 100 safehouses or outlets were operating in the city in late 1986. Since then, the task force has charged, indicted, or deported many Jamaican nationals; seized cocaine, currency, and other assets; and seized numerous firearms.