features
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Spring time?
staff photo by Sumanesh Agrawal
This squirrel was found nibbling away
in one of the trees in front of the Biolog
ical Sciences Building. A number of
squirrels can often be found playing and
eating in that area.
Drug agents express
fears and frustrations
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United Press International
The dealer looked nervously
at his buyer.
“Are you a DEA (Drug En
forcement Administration)
agent?”
“No,” replied the buyer, an
undercover narcotics officer
with the Texas Department of
Public Safety.
The dealer, a 28-year-old
professor of music at a west
Texas college, appeared satis
fied, then glanced across the
street at an innocent-looking
van.
“That van,” he said with a
grin, “it’s probably full of narcs.”
The agent shook his head,
laughed and the deal was made
-'l,000 hits of LSD for $8
apiece.
But the van was filled with
“narcs,” who were recording the
transaction on film. The music
professor is currently serving a
sentence in the Texas Depart
ment of Corrections — the re
sult of DPS undercover work
that is sometimes successful,
sometimes fruitless, but always
dangerous.
The DPS agent, based in west
Texas, cannot be identified for
safety reasons and to protect
further operations. But his
methods, fears, failures, victor
ies and frustrations are very real
and are shared by other agents
who buy drugs for the law.
“I usually grow my hair lon
ger and grow a beard before
going undercover,” he said.
“I’ve had my cover blown and
people (dealers) have men
tioned my real name before,
asking me if that’s who I vyas. I
just say no and they deal.”
The agent said that most drug
dealers who are hard to “make”
are not stupid, but “just greedy.”
“That college professor — his
case stands out,” the agent said.
“He was 28 years old, had a doc
torate degree, and was the head
of a music department. He fell
something was wrong but he
took a chance.”
But much undercover work is
routine. The DPS agent said that
often, many small drug purch-
The music professor is
currently serving a sent
ence in the 1 exas De
partment of Correc
tions — the result of
DPS undercover work
that is sometimes suc
cessful, sometimes fruit
less, but always dan
gerous.
ases must be made over a period
of time in order to catch a bigger
dealer. Sometimes the work re
sults in nothing at all.
With court dockets crowded
with cases of violent crime, drug
case are often pushed aside or
pleaded out, he said.
“It’s hard to keep it from get
ting personal. You have people
beat you (in court) after spend
ing time away from your wife
and kids. Yes, it gets damn per
sonal.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m
fighting a losing battle,” the
agent said. “The courts are over
crowded and there’s too much
plea bargaining. When you do
go to court, they don’t try the
people, they try my case to see if
I did anything wrong.
“If people could see if from
Battalion/Page 5B
February 17, 1982
Storms, winds trigger floods,
mudslides, killing at least 4
United Press International
A series of storms ravaged the
Pacific Northwest with gale-
force winds and rain, triggering
mudslides and flooding that kil
led at least four people. Rising
temperatures compounded the
problem by melting snow to cre
ate avalanches.
Worried homeowners in the
San Francisco area, still haunted
by the January mudslides that
killed 37 people, jammed
switchboards Monday with calls
to authorities seeking informa
tion on evacuations as rain fell
for a third straight day.
“Everything is stable right
now,” said a California Highway
Patrol spokesman in Santa Cruz
County. “But the ground can’t
take too much more water.”
The storms have dumped up
to 10 inches of rain in the past
five days. They set off snow and
mudslides in Washington,
burying a highway worker who
had been clearing debris.
Avalanche and flood warn
ings were issued as rapidly rising
temperatures melted more than
three feet of snow that accumu
lated in mountain areas since
Feb. 8. Roads littered with rocks
and muddy debris were closed.
Gale and flood warnings were
in effect for the coast of Oregon
and Northern California. Heavy
rain and winds gusting to 65
mph swamped the Oregon coast
where more than eight inches of
rain has fallen.
Heavy rains pounded north
ern California and the National
Weather Service predicted
another four inches of rain in
the saturated area. Minor flood
ing and landslides were re
ported.
“Right now it’s kind of a wait
and see proposition,” a state’s
Emergency Services Depart
ment spokeswoman said.
Washington’s Snohomish
River crested three feet over
flood stage in pasture land late
Monday and flood warnings
were in effect for the Snoqual-
mie and upper Cowlitz rivers,
among others.
The rain-swollen Salmon Riv
er in Idaho was clogged by an
icejam and backed up into part
of the town of Salmon, flooding
City Hall and several businesses
and homes.
The Gulf Coast also was
doused with up to three inches
of rain from southeast Texas to
Florida. Some street flooding
was reported in Beaumont,
Texas.
where we see it. We’ll go into a
filthy place and there’ll be these
dirty people and they may have
some dirty kids. And if we’re
working a case (undercover),
they may look better than we do.
“Later, in court, we sit there
knowing the truth, they may
even have other cases that they
(the prosecution) can’t bring up.
It’s a circus,” he said.
But the agent still prefers life
“in the street” to desk work and
he said more and more drugs
are showing up on west Texas
streets.
“The deals are getting bigger
and the dope is getting more ex
pensive,” he warned.
Because it has so many re
mote areas, west Texas is a
prime spot for airplane deliver
ies. Often they land on out-
ofthe-way farm to markets roads
or at night on highways lit with
long strips of burning gasoline
or lighter fluid.
“There’s no telling how many
aircraft get through,” he said.
Some planes are spotted by
the border patrol and the FAA
helps when it can. But a narco
tics agent’s biggest assets, for
deals both large and small, are
informants.
“A narcotics agent without an
informant might as well ‘stay at
the house,”’ he said. “Some peo
ple volunteer information —
their wife or husband may be on
drugs — and some do it out of
civic duty. Others do it for
money.
“But we’ve always got some
thing going.”
Air Force
experience can get
your career off the
ground. If you’re in the
market for a challenge, consider
becoming an Air Force pilot, navigate
or engineer. Top performance is a way
of life in the Air Force. As an officer,
you’ll be a vital part of the important
role that the Air Force plays in world
affairs. Find out how Air Force pilots,
navigators and engineers enjoy a
GREAT WAY OF LIFE by contacting:
Tsgt. Ron Hamilton
707 University Dr.
College Station
(713) 846-5521
846-6790
or check with The Placement Center for recruiting dates.
and I bet you thought we
only flew airplanes!
0
A great way of life.
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Old South
Restaurant
NOW HIRING
wait people
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Parkway Square
S. Texas Ave. & Southwest Pkwy.
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