Phones were under scrutiny 18 hours a day, and officers listened to multiple lines during nine-hour shifts. Dan Jaramillo and other narcs listened and watched for months. Jaramillo is the drug squad prototype, a tough guy with tattoos and savvy for gang attitudes. He's been a Phoenix cop for 21 years and has spent the past decade in a Drug Enforcement Bureau that now has 80 officers. Like most undercover officers, Jaramillo is furtive about his personal life and his work.
Exposure makes cops vulnerable.
Until about 10 years ago, few drug dealers were armed with anything more than a revolver. During Operation Second Hand, detectives identified at least three related rings working for the Carillo Fuentes cartel, one of the world's largest. Drugs were flown or trucked to border cities, funneled to Tucson and Phoenix, then shipped from stash houses to the Pacific Northwest and the East Coast. Money made the same trip in reverse. As detectives worked, they knew that every day of waiting allowed more narcotics in, more money out.