editorial comment Yet another proof of the financial incentive of the war on drugs for the government....

A 1999 Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle parked in the garage at the Fairfield Police Department and more than $22,000 in cash sit waiting to be claimed -- not by the former owner, but by police and prosecutors.

The heavy V-8 Magnum SUV and the cash all could end up being public property, split among several agencies if local authorities can prove to a judge that they were obtained by selling illegal drugs.

In Winthrop, a single sweep of a marijuana-growing operation netted Police Chief Joseph Young and his department more than $8,000 in drug forfeiture money.

Kennebec County commissioners accepted $1,600 in cash and three firearms seized this year in an arrest in Litchfield. A Fayette man agreed to forfeit more than $30,000 to the state, half the amount of cash seized from his vehicle in a search for drugs by a sheriff's deputy on Feb. 28 in Manchester.

The picture is the same across the state, drug money is seized by police and "plowed back" into eradication efforts. Call it the spoils of the war on drugs; proceeds, in fact, that can ease the burden of local taxation.

"In the Fairfield drug case, we filed a petition to forfeit the money on the belief that the cash and the vehicle were derived from the illegal sale of drugs," said Evert N. Fowle, district attorney for Somerset and Kennebec counties. "After we have terminated the drug dealers' interest in the property, we'll need a court order to turn it over to the state, an agency or town, approved by the attorney general.

"As to how that money or property is distributed, that is up to the attorney general."

Drug forfeiture money can be used by police departments toward the purchase of new weapons, a police cruiser or to buffer the overtime police account. Prosecutors can use the money to fund various offices around the state, supplement pay increases and provide local matches for juvenile prosecution efforts.

Forfeiture cases begin in Superior Court, then are sent to the attorney general for approval. After the attorney general decides how much each agency involved in a drug-forfeiture case gets as a cut, the paperwork is submitted back to Superior Court for a final order for distribution.

Fowle said his office handled more than $114,000 in forfeited cash, one vehicle and three firearms last fiscal year in Kennebec and Somerset counties. He said the money, once divvied up among the agencies that participated in the drug raid and subsequent seizure, normally is used to combat drug sales or for general law enforcement purposes.

Guns and motor vehicles either are sold, or kept and used by various police agencies for drug work, including undercover hours, he said. Confiscated drugs either are incinerated or "crushed and flushed" after the case has been adjudicated.

"When monies are forfeited to a county, municipality or state agency, it is hoped that this money will be plowed back into fighting our serious drug problem," Fowle said. "We make no requirement of this, it is up to the county commissioners, city council or state agency supervisors to determine how the money is spent.

"Our goal is to separate these assets from the drug dealers to the maximum extent possible."

Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agreed, saying once a judge and the attorney general sign off on confiscated money, it is then up to the various agencies to collect their share.

"The drug proceeds are split; X amount will go to a local department, X amount will go to the county, some to MDEA, some to the DA's office," he said.

"We're out looking for drug dealers. If we can take some of their blood money away from them, then all the better. Most of the drug money forfeited in cases where the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency is involved actually goes to county, city and town governments in recognition for their help in these cases."

The Dodge Durango and the cash sitting as evidence at the Fairfield Police Department were confiscated following a raid Aug. 15 on Ohio Hill Road. Three people were arrested and police seized cocaine, crack and marijuana.

Fairfield Police Chief John Emery said his department, along with police from Waterville, Oakland, and Kennebec and Somerset counties, participated in the raid and therefore will be parties to the cut when the proceeds are divided, as will Fowle's office.

Fowle said 20 percent of all forfeiture money goes to what is called the District Attorney's Budget Line, which is maintained by the attorney general. The rest is awarded to the city or town where the search warrant originated and is then divided up among the various police agencies.

Emery said the sharing of the proceeds is based on participation in a given raid. That would include overtime hours, the number of police officers and equipment used.

From the top line of the forfeited drug money, the department where the search warrant originated must also pay its bills, he said.

"Last summer we cut a check to Waterville for $4,000," Emery said. "We'll cut checks from the drug forfeiture account to the agencies for whatever their share is in the forfeiture."

The controlling agency also must pay for laboratory testing on the drugs.

Assistant Attorney General James Cameron said his office handles all of the drug cases in Franklin County. During fiscal 2004-05, $3,263 in cash was seized -- and used -- by the Franklin County Sheriff's Department.

He said his office confiscated more than $125,000 last fiscal year statewide, most of it in Cumberland, Penobscot and Oxford counties. Cameron said his forfeiture figures in Kennebec County include guns and money not include in Fowle's account.

Waterville Police Chief John Morris said that by state law, the money goes to the city or town council or board of selectmen in each community for disbursement later. Proceeds can be used to purchase new equipment, new firearms, overtime pay, officer education, narcotic identifying kits -- even for so-called "buy" money, marked bills in a drug sting.

"We use a minimal amount of taxpayers money on our battle with drugs," Morris said. "It gives me great pleasure to buy drugs in our drug efforts with money seized from other drug dealers."

Noting that each municipal or county agency receives varying amounts of drug forfeiture money, Emery said his department received nearly $18,000 during the last fiscal year. Of that money, about $3,000 was left after the bills were paid. He said Fairfield's share of the money will go toward a new police cruiser.

Doug Harlow -- 861-9244

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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