Hazleton drug sting revives call for a law
The mayor said towns need power to crack down on illegal immigrants. A judge threw out the city's rules.
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Staff Writer
A massive drug sweep that netted at least two non-U.S. citizens in Hazleton, Pa., demonstrates that local municipalities need the power to crack down on illegal immigrants, according to the city's mayor, Lou Barletta.
After a seven-month investigation, the state Attorney General's Office announced Thursday that it had charged 40 people - all of them suspected dealers - with involvement in a Northeast Pennsylvania cocaine ring that allegedly made $31 million over three years and is based in Hazleton.
Among those charged were two illegal immigrants and five or six other noncitizens with green cards who, if convicted, would be deported after serving prison sentences, said Frank Noonan, a regional director for the Attorney General's Office and the agent in charge of the investigation.
A total of 28 suspects are in custody for alleged roles in a regional drug ring that brought in a large volume of cocaine from New York City and drew customers from neighboring counties, Noonan said. Agents are still seeking 12 more people, several of whom may have fled to the Dominican Republic, he said.
Noonan said the case, one of the largest in Luzerne County, was likely to result in many more arrests. "We haven't gone after the customers yet," he said.
Barletta gained national attention last year for pushing through an ordinance that would have penalized businesses that employed illegal immigrants and landlords who rented to them. A federal judge struck down the ordinance in July.
The arrests, Barletta said, should help bolster his legal argument that without a strong federal immigration law, communities need the ability to remove illegal immigrants who commit crimes and drain health-care and social services.
"The time and money spent bringing this operation down was tax money spent on people who shouldn't be here," Barletta said.
Witold Walczak, the ACLU lawyer who represented plaintiffs in the Hazleton ordinance case, said the arrests would have no effect on the federal case.
"To take that situation and suggest that undocumented immigrants are responsible for cocaine distribution in Hazleton is dishonest," Walczak said. "Nobody can deny that some commit crime, but almost all studies find that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than legal citizens."
The mayor said towns need power to crack down on illegal immigrants. A judge threw out the city's rules.
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Staff Writer
A massive drug sweep that netted at least two non-U.S. citizens in Hazleton, Pa., demonstrates that local municipalities need the power to crack down on illegal immigrants, according to the city's mayor, Lou Barletta.
After a seven-month investigation, the state Attorney General's Office announced Thursday that it had charged 40 people - all of them suspected dealers - with involvement in a Northeast Pennsylvania cocaine ring that allegedly made $31 million over three years and is based in Hazleton.
Among those charged were two illegal immigrants and five or six other noncitizens with green cards who, if convicted, would be deported after serving prison sentences, said Frank Noonan, a regional director for the Attorney General's Office and the agent in charge of the investigation.
A total of 28 suspects are in custody for alleged roles in a regional drug ring that brought in a large volume of cocaine from New York City and drew customers from neighboring counties, Noonan said. Agents are still seeking 12 more people, several of whom may have fled to the Dominican Republic, he said.
Noonan said the case, one of the largest in Luzerne County, was likely to result in many more arrests. "We haven't gone after the customers yet," he said.
Barletta gained national attention last year for pushing through an ordinance that would have penalized businesses that employed illegal immigrants and landlords who rented to them. A federal judge struck down the ordinance in July.
The arrests, Barletta said, should help bolster his legal argument that without a strong federal immigration law, communities need the ability to remove illegal immigrants who commit crimes and drain health-care and social services.
"The time and money spent bringing this operation down was tax money spent on people who shouldn't be here," Barletta said.
Witold Walczak, the ACLU lawyer who represented plaintiffs in the Hazleton ordinance case, said the arrests would have no effect on the federal case.
"To take that situation and suggest that undocumented immigrants are responsible for cocaine distribution in Hazleton is dishonest," Walczak said. "Nobody can deny that some commit crime, but almost all studies find that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than legal citizens."
Comments
Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes has chosen April 15 to make a major announcement of his intentions, following indications he has broken with the GOP.A life-long Republican who has increasingly cited the party's failure to match conservative rhetoric with actual performance in the political arena, Keyes said he will reveal his reasons for departing the GOP at a press conference scheduled for 8:30 pm ET,at the Best Western Genetti Inn in Hazleton,PA.The event will be video-streamed live at Keyes' website,www.AlanKeyes.com.Keyes added that he is looking to the Constitution Party as a possible home.
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Albertson
Addiction Recovery Pennsylvania
Addiction Recovery Pennsylvania
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mike
good place to look forward..
look4ward
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ss
ASCIISOL
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stella
YAHOO
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Kevin
www.worldinfo.com
It’s the time to stop the illegal immigrants and the supply of the drugs is going on increasing these days. There should be law which should be revised again and everybody should fear doing these activities.
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prathap
worldinfo
I think now a day we have to come forward against the supply of the drugs. Government has to make strict rules for the drug supplier this can help to reduce the rate of drug addiction and supplier both.
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Rahul Kumar
Massachusetts Treatment Centers