Baltimore Police Department

to protect & serve

By Anthony Guglielmi, Director Public Affairs Section
Friday, February 20, 2009; 11:30 am

Baltimore Police Gain Significant Ground in War on Drugs.
At a morning press conference, Baltimore City Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld announced that Police took a “monumental step” in the city’s war on drugs. Shortly after 2am, city Police executed the largest cocaine seizure in Baltimore’s history.

Forty-one kilos of cocaine (aprox 91.4 lbs), which carries an estimated street value between $2 and $3 million dollars was seized as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation conducted exclusively by the Baltimore Police Violent Crimes Impact Division (VCID). An individual was taken into police custody in connection with the drug seizure, the suspects identity is being withheld until the investigation is completed. Police also seized $11,000 in U.S. currency.

Bealefeld says the seizure is a testament to the department’s proactive enforcement in combating the city’s drug problems and to the exceptional work of city police officers.

“Cocaine is presently one of the most abused drugs in the Baltimore metropolitan area,” said Bealefeld. “This seizure is important on many levels in that it gets right to the root of some of the city’s major crime problems and takes a considerable amount of drugs off our city streets.”

“Today's record seizure is a result of good police work and tireless effort and dedication on behalf of the Baltimore City Police Department to make Baltimore a safer city,” said Mayor Sheila Dixon. “I am very proud of Commissioner Bealefeld and Colonel Dean Palmere of VCID for their leadership and would like to personally acknowledge and thank them for continuing to improve the quality of life in this city.”

Prior to this, the largest cocaine seizure conducted by city police was 30 kilos in 2006.