Miami or Fort Wayne-Drug kings

Nick Werner of the Star Press writes about the million dollars drug bust.

But what's more important is that Duran's arrest disrupted a drug ring that was moving an average of 22 pounds -- or $1 million worth -- of cocaine into the area on a weekly basis from Fort Wayne, according to Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force Sgt. Jess Neal.

This is something more like you would see in Miami," Neal said Thursday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Drug Task Force investigators, working with SWAT teams from the Delaware County sheriff's department and Muncie Police Department, raided three houses in Fort Wayne, four in Muncie and two in Indianapolis. The properties were either owned by Duran or occupied by members of his drug network, Neal said.

What was the reactions of neighbors, you say? Nope, not scared, happy, read:

News of the drug bust was well received by Doug Garrett, who is raising four children between the ages of 7 and 18 at Seventh and Monroe streets, about a block away from one of the houses targeted in the raids.

"This can't be anything but a plus," Garrett said. "The drug element is bad. People do crazy stuff on drugs and you don't want your kids around it."

Police attribute the majority of burglaries and robberies to people feeding drug addictions, often crack cocaine. It is still too early to tell how what type of long-term effect the Duran bust might have on drug-related crimes and the availability of cocaine in Delaware County, Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle said.

Allen County Sheriff is worried about offending his officers by just requiring a drug test, so Fort Wayne taxpayers should not be surprised that I tax dollars are going to buy tasers, while drug deals money goes untaxed.

The newspaper reports Duran as a big fish,

Wholesale drug dealers like Duran are difficult to catch because they often only deal with one or two buyers, Neal said. This helps insulate them from low-level drug dealers who are often willing to cooperate with police in return for leniency.

But my bet is the bigger fishies are sitting in Fort Wayne,

An undercover cop worked his way up the drug chain and found Duran at top in Fort Wayne, Neal said. Duran's arrest set a precedent in the ability of the Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force to conduct investigations in multiple counties.

And I believe the officers have the right idea to come on into Fort Wayne, "

We're not going to stop in Muncie anymore," Neal said. "We are going to pursue these guys where they are at. Instead of passing information along and hoping somebody does something with it."

There goes our city again, this time just call us the drug money drain city.

Search warrants for the homes in Delaware, Allen and Marion counties were signed by Delaware Circuit Court 3 Judge Robert Barnet Jr., who has the authority to sign warrants for properties throughout the state.

Local police also worked with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and authorities in Allen and Marion counties.

Duran has served a federal prison sentence for trafficking more than 200 pounds of marijuana, Neal said.

He lives in a 3,000-square-foot ranch house on four acres in Fort Wayne and owns four trucks and a new Harley Davidson, Neal said.

Thanks Muncie and fine job you did. We pay one police officer over $100,000 a year to harrass drunks, who has little money, but our law enforcement has problems making millions drug busts. Which would benefit our community? The drug money could pay for the drunk program and increase the number of officers working the program. But Fort Wayne is not called the dumbest city for nothing.