FBI asked to probe missing police drugs
Cocaine was supposed to be in property room
March 29, 2001
BY SUZETTE HACKNEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The $12 million in cocaine that has vanished from an evidence room in Detroit police headquarters is just the latest disappearance of seized booty. In 1995, police officials said that the room had been reorganized and pledged such mishaps would never again occur.
Chief Benny Napoleon called in FBI officials this week to investigate whether the missing drugs -- about 35 kilograms of cocaine -- were stolen, destroyed or tagged inappropriately.
The cocaine, part of a 1993 bust, was discovered missing late last week, after narcotics supervisors went to the property room to retrieve it for an undercover investigation, Napoleon said.
The property room -- which on any given day might hold millions of dollars in confiscated drugs, cash, weapons and jewelry -- has been criticized for sloppy inventory and accounting for more than 10 years.
In the early 1990s, department officials did not know exactly what was kept in the room and had no system of accounting for cash taken off the streets. Police said as much as $1 million in seized cash -- no one was quite sure of the exact amount -- had been in a vault for years. In 1995, police officials promised the Board of Police Commissioners to correct problems by reorganizing the room and using computer inventory methods.
Deputy Chief John Clark, who oversees management of the property room, said Wednesday the system is in place, and it is unclear why the cocaine has not been accounted for.
Napoleon, who took over as chief in 1998, said that for two years, he has requested that cameras and other computerized access control be installed in the property room, but budget officials said no.
"We have literally tens of thousands of pieces of property," he said. "Whenever you have humans, you have human error."
Clark said evidence is kept in the room until it is needed for criminal trials and appeals. Narcotics are supposed to be destroyed, he said.
Clark said about nine department officials -- six officers, a sergeant, lieutenant and inspector -- work in the property room. None has been suspended or reassigned. Only certain members of the department have access to the room. All evidence, which contains computerized bar codes, must be signed out when removed for court purposes.
"It's not odd to have drugs in there for six or seven years," Clark said.
Napoleon would not say whether he believes the drugs were stolen, but said it disturbs him greatly to think that the cocaine is back on the streets of Detroit.
"If an officer or officers is responsible, they will be dealt with," he said.
In 1994, a Detroit police officer was sentenced to 33 months in prison for concealing stolen firearms after federal agents dug up about 200 guns bearing police evidence tags in Sanilac County.
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