Fresh Loaf

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 60% of all men arrested in Atlanta in 2008 tested positive for an illegal drug.

Atlanta’s percentage of arrestees peeing dirty is actually on the low-end of the 10 major cities surveyed.

But get this, according to USA Today Atlanta is the only city in the survey where cocaine is the most popular drug among those arrested.

In the other nine cities survey, marijuana is the most popular drug among arrestees.

Question: Is there a worse job in the world than jailhouse urine specimen collector?

(A jaunty tilt of my crack pipe to Christa at pecanne log for informing me of this story.)

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BBC: If you see a big blue triangle, call 911!

This should boost tourism:  

US officials believe that Atlanta has become the principal distribution point for the Mexican drugs cartels in the eastern and southern US.

“If they were making the television show Miami Vice today it would probably be more appropriately called Metro Atlanta Vice, but with some distinctions,” says Jack Killorin, director of Atlanta’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) unit.

Here’s an audio version of the report.

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From USA Today:

In a city where Coca Cola, United Parcel Service and Home Depot are the titans of industry, there are new powerful forces on the block: Mexican drug cartels.

Their presence and ruthless tactics are largely unknown to most here. Yet, of the 195 U.S. cities where Mexican drug-trafficking organizations are operating, federal law enforcement officials say Atlanta has emerged as the new gateway to the troubled Southwest border.

Rival drug cartels, the same violent groups warring in Mexico for control of routes to lucrative U.S. markets, have established Atlanta as the principal distribution center for the entire eastern U.S., according to the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center.

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From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

The Federal government has busted two major drug cartels in Atlanta and charged 34 defendants involved with nationwide drug distribution and transportation . . . Project Reckoning has led to the arrest of 332 people and the seizure of $57.7 million, 16,347 kilograms of cocaine, 485 pounds of methamphetamine, 19 pounds of heroin, 51,147 pounds of marijuana, 114 vehicles and 116 weapons.

How can someone tell if a drug bust is major?

Obviously, you can say it’s “major” compared to other smaller drug busts.

But are drug busts ever “major” in the sense that they seriously dent the supply of drugs in a major metropolitan area?

Was this bust “major” enough to cause an increase in the prices of certain drugs? Are cocaine, pot and meth more expensive than they were prior to the bust?

51,147 pounds of marijuana is enough to pack of 3.28 million sandwich bags with a quarter-ounce of marijuana.

Are there suddenly 3.28 million extra unsold ziploc bags in Metro Atlanta?

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Is it me, or has there been a spike in kidnapped drug dealers lately?

On Sunday, a kidnapped drug dealer threw himself out of a car on I-285 and rolled across several lanes of traffic. In July, a kidnapped drug dealer was chained up and held for nearly a week in a Lilburn basement. And in May, a badly beaten kidnapped drug dealer was found in the trunk of a car near Grant Park (though in the end, that guy wasn’t really kidnapped but merely faked the abduction — perhaps because he knew about the trend in kidnapped drug dealers).

The trend seems to be resonating strongly in the suburbs, of all places. Who knew?

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Do you know of, live near, drive-by, any illegal drug markets?

Off the top of my head, I can think of two street corners in Atlanta where people openly sell illegal drugs.

What are some others?

I’m not hankering for crank. I’m working on a story.

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The Associated Press reports that U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., have called for a hearing after a recent investigation by the news agency revealed that minute amounts of prescription medications — even after extensive treatment — were present in drinking water for nearly 41 million Americans, including Atlanta’s.

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Penn., has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to organize a task force to study the findings and recommend legislation to Congress if necessary.

This comment in the AP report made me scratch my head:

EPA spokesman Timothy Lyons said the agency is “committed to keeping the nation’s water supply clean, safe and the best in the world. We encourage all Americans to be responsible when disposing of prescription drugs.”

I won’t get into the filthy details, Mr. Lyons, but I don’t think the reason we’re seeing little teensy bits of hormones in our tap water is because fed-up men and women are flushing their dosages down the toilet.

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GREENVILLE — A drug associate of Mayor Shirley Franklin’s ex-son-in-law pleaded guilty to federal charges today, bringing an abrupt end to his trial on cocaine trafficking.

As part of his plea deal, Ernest Watkins agreed to cooperate with federal authorities “about all criminal activities [of] which he has knowledge.”

Watkins has been identified in federal documents and in open court as the person who supplied Kai Franklin Graham’s then-husband, Tremayne Graham, with a gun that was later used to kill Graham’s co-defendant, Ulysses Hackett, and Hackett’s girlfriend, Misty Carter. No arrests have been made in the 2004 double-murder of Hackett and Carter, who were killed as they lay in bed inside Carter’s Highland Avenue townhouse.

Like Watkins, Kai Franklin Graham — the mayor’s daughter — also signed a cooperation agreement when she pleaded guilty in December 2007 to minor charges related to her ex-husband’s crime ring.

Franklin Graham is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in federal court in Greenville on charges that she made structured financial payments to avoid federal detection. She, Graham, Watkins and more than a dozen other defendants linked to Graham have had cases brought in South Carolina, where Graham’s drug ring delivered multi-kilo shipments of cocaine from Atlanta.
(more…)

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On Nov. 20, the younger, more understated brother of flashy mob boss Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory pleaded guilty to federal charges. Like his brother the day before, Terry “Southwest T” Flenory admitted to running the $270 million cocaine ring the Black Mafia Family, which was based in Atlanta, Detroit and L.A.

Both brothers entered guilty pleas less than a week before they were scheduled for trial in their native Detroit. Had they been convicted of running a continuing criminal enterprise, they would have faced mandatory life sentences. Instead, the Flenorys could be sentenced to as little as 20 years, though the government is recommending 30.

After spending nearly half an hour huddling with his lawyers, Terry Flenory went before U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn yesterday morning and indicated he wanted to go to trial. After he was escorted from the courtroom, he changed his mind and returned to enter a guilty plea.

The Flenory brothers pleaded guilty to the continuing criminal enterprise charge — which is used to take down organized crime rings — and to money laundering. Other charges, including cocaine distribution, were dropped.

Five of the Flenorys’ 39 defendants are still scheduled for trial Nov. 26. The rest either have pleaded guilty or are expected to. What’s more, several investigations into BMF’s activities in Atlanta — including two associates’ alleged roles in three homicides — are ongoing.

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Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory, the alleged Atlanta-based co-leader of multistate cocaine enterprise the Black Mafia Family, is expected to plead guilty in federal court on Monday.

A flashy hip-hop entrepreneur who enjoyed legendary status in the city’s club scene, Meech was indicted two years ago for running a continuing criminal enterprise, a statute created to take down organized crime rings.

The trial of Meech and seven of his 41 co-defendants, including his brother and alleged co-leader, Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, was set for Nov. 26 in Detroit. The details of Meech’s deal — including the charges he’ll plead guilty to, the length of the sentence he might serve, and any willingness he might have to cooperate against his co-defendants — have not been revealed.

One of the seven co-defendants scheduled for trial Nov. 26 pleaded guilty yesterday. The fates of the remaining six are unclear.

Meech’s guilty plea will mark a milestone in a 15-year investigation into BMF — an investigation that ultimately led to 150 suspects being charged in more than a dozen indictments in seven states. BMF associates also have been implicated in several high-profile murders, and several investigations into the crew are ongoing.

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A federal judge has pushed back the trial date for the alleged co-leaders of multistate cocaine enterprise the Black Mafia Family.

The trial is now scheduled to start two weeks later, on Nov. 19.

By postponing the trial, the judge ruled in favor of lawyers representing flashy hip-hop entrepreneur Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory. The lawyers were seeking more time to prepare. Though it’s been two years since Flenory was indicted, the government only recently released a large amount of evidence — including recorded phone calls that Flenory and his brother made from jail.

The Flenory brothers are accused of running BMF — an estimated $270 million cocaine ring with ties to the hip-hop industry — as a “continuing criminal enterprise,” a federal crime punishable with a mandatory life sentence.

The Flenorys and six of their 40 co-defendants are being tried in Detroit, where they allegedly birthed the organization before setting up hubs in Atlanta and L.A. The other defendants either have pleaded guilty — some in exchange for testifying against the organization — or are expected to plead guilty.

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Lawyers for alleged Black Mafia Family co-leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory filed a motion Friday asking that the judge push back a Nov. 5 trial that has been two years in the making.

The motion states that the lawyers need more time to investigate recent evidence against Meech and the $270 million, multistate cocaine ring he allegedly ran with his brother, Terry:

On September 28, 2007, defense counsel received discovery discs containing approximately 800 pages of written documents, 500 pages of photos, and 33 CD’s of jail conversations between Terry Flenory and others, and Demetrius Flenory and others, approximately hundreds if not thousands of hours of conversations. … While Demetrius Flenory is in jail and has been for almost two years, he adamantly concurs in the motion to adjourn in order for his attorney to be completely prepared for trial.

The Flenory brothers and as many as seven of their 40 co-defendants are scheduled for trial in federal court in Detroit, where BMF allegedly was birthed before establishing hubs in L.A. and Atlanta.

A hearing on the motion has been scheduled for Oct. 18.

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Add to the list of roughly 130 alleged Black Mafia Family affiliates facing federal charges in at least nine separate indictments the following name: Barima McKnight, aka the rapper “Bleu DaVinci.”

McKnight was among six defendants whose identities were revealed on Friday, after a U.S. District Court judge in Atlanta signed an order to fully unseal an indictment that had been filed in July. The indictment charges a total of 16 defendants with conspiracy to distribute multiple kilos of cocaine.

McKnight, who took over the record label BMF Entertainment after alleged BMF co-leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory was indicted two years ago on cocaine conspiracy charges, was the sole artist signed to the Atlanta-based label. The feds allege that BMF Entertainment was in fact a front for the cocaine trade.

As a rapper, McKnight never saw the success of other artists who aligned themselves with BMF, including Young Jeezy and Fabolous. Neither Jeezy nor Fabolous was signed to BMF Entertainment. But both were early members of the BMF party entourage that was a huge presence in Atlanta clubs such as Compound and Vision, and both have written or contributed to tracks about the storied crew.

According to the indictment charging McKnight:

DEFENDANTS were members or associates of the criminal enterprise known as the Black Mafia Family (BMF). The cocaine possessed and distributed in this conspiracy came from the most senior members of BMF, who are not indicted herein. It was only by way of their membership in BMF or association therewith that DEFENDANTS were able to gain access to the cocaine that was distributed as part of this conspiracy.

McKnight has not been apprehended, nor have the five other defendants whose names were revealed last week: Terry “Taz” Biles, Vernon “Wu” Coleman, Michael “Freak” Green, Innocent “Fifty” Guerville, and Deron “D-Shock” Hall.

Demetrius Flenory, his brother and alleged co-leader Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, and as many as nine of their 40 co-defendants are scheduled for trial Nov. 5 in Detroit, where the alleged $270 million cocaine enterprise was birthed before establishing central hubs in L.A. and Atlanta. The Flenorys face a continuing criminal enterprise charge, which can carry a mandatory life sentence.

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Tremayne Graham, who until early 2005 was married to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s daughter, was sentenced this week to life in federal prison on drug and money-laundering charges — and has been implicated in court documents as the mastermind of a 2004 unsolved Atlanta double killing.

At Graham’s April 17 sentencing hearing in Greenville, S.C., where he’d regularly delivered shipments of cocaine from Atlanta, one of his co-defendants, Scott King, described Graham’s alleged role in the murders of one of Graham’s alleged drug couriers Ulysses Hackett, and Hackett’s girlfriend, 24-year-old Spelman graduate Misty Carter.

According to court documents filed in the case:

GRAHAM was very concerned that Hackett would cooperate and testify against him, and that GRAHAM had a number of conversations with King about the need to have Hackett murdered. GRAHAM ultimately made statements to King indicating that he arranged for this murder through [co-defendant] Jerry Davis.

Davis was sentenced this week to 35 years on drug and money-laundering charges. King, for his willingness to testify in the case, will receive a lesser sentence.

Elsewhere in the document, it states:

Graham told Scott King that [an associate of theirs] supplied the gun used to murder Ulysses Hackett and his girlfriend.

At around 4 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2004, two men broke into Carter’s Highland Avenue apartment and shot her and Hackett to death as they lay in her bed. No arrests have been made, though investigators have indicated that murder charges could be forthcoming.

Graham is believed to have been tied to alleged multistate crime ring the Black Mafia Family and is accused of keeping close company with some of BMF’s high-ranking members. Two months after the double homicide, Graham skipped bond on his recent federal drug charges out of South Carolina and went on the lam for seven months. He was captured in June 2005 in California at an alleged BMF safehouse. Inside, investigators found $1.8 million and a haul of cocaine with a street value of $20 million.

For more details of the accusations against Graham and background on the case, check out the April 26 issue of Creative Loafing.

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I just attended a symposium at Georgia Tech on video games that play with reality. It was a fascinating conference filled with cutting-edge innovations that showed games not only entertain, but also educate.

One of the best panels was titled “Playing with Health” and featured a variety of speakers who’ve helped people understand and cope with their environments and health — from autistic children to individuals who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Ken Graap, co-founder of Virtually Better (located in Atlanta), showed a great slideshow on how a virtual world could potentially help heavy marijuana users lower their cravings. The “game” works like this:

Virtually Better has created several virtual rooms — the neutral room, the paraphernalia room (adorned with joints, cigarettes, black lights, Grateful Dead posters, etc.) and the party room (people smoking up, fresh pizza on tables). A person starts in the neutral room and then is taken to the other rooms. When he or she gets to the paraphernalia and party rooms, a USB port emits the smells of pot, pizza, cigarettes, etc. while music and conversations come through headphones. Throughout the game, a person’s heart rate is measured to gauge the intensity of that person’s craving.

The company has found that these virtual rooms, scents and sounds can “turn on” a person’s craving in a matter of minutes.

So of course — as Graap pointed out — wouldn’t this make the person want to go find a joint ASAP after leaving the lab?

The simulation brings the person back into the neutral world at the end, and cravings, data show, lower — not back to the initial state, but significantly from the height of the game. And it seems legit: the National Institute for Drug Abuse funds the project. Virtually Better hopes to use the data from these virtual worlds to figure out new ways to treat people with substance-abuse problems — from pot to cigarettes to crack and even possibly meth. And that could be really cool.

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