The Hope Lions Heard from CID Sgt. Daniel Oller of the Hope Police. Sgt. Oller talked about the 8th North Drug Task Force. He is the lead investigator and will became director of the Drug Task Force next year. He noted the 8th north judicial district covers Hempstead and Nevada County. Prior to development of the 8th North Task Force, Hempstead was in with three other counties and often the efforts went more to those counties. The 8th North Drug Task Force is fully self-funded through the prosecutor’s office. Much of these funds come from drug seizures, forfeiture of vehicles and personal property, drug money, and other property tied to the sale of drugs. Sgt. Oller says the busier they are, the more money they generate. He also says they have a good relationship with area drug task forces. Sgt. Oller also noted he is an “OCDETF” officer. This stands for “Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force”. As an OCDETF” officer with the FBI and Homeland Security, it allows him to operate outside the borders of Hempstead and Nevada County. As an example, he detailed an operation which resulted in the recovery of 3 pounds of meth from Hope into different states. He detailed the instance when this meth left Hope and went into Oklahoma. Sgt. Oller noted the suspect had a flat in Broken Bow, Oklahoma and a policeman there helped the suspect change the tire. Sgt. Oller said it was fortunate the Oklahoma policemen didn’t suspect anything because this led to the arrest of five suspects who were tied to a cartel in Mexico. These suspects received federal indictments and are currently in federal prison. Sgt. Oller also detailed another operation which resulted in the recovery of 13 pounds of meth.
The club members listened in rapt attention to Sgt. Oller’s presentation. He noted how 13 pounds of meth bought wholesale could be worth over $269,000 on the street. The Sargeant noted the main corridors in moving drugs include I-30, I-20 and then up highway 29 north, and US 59.
The Lions visited with Sgt. Oller after his presentation.