Opinion ID: 173282
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The June Drug Bust

Text: On the night of June 12, 2007, a Tulsa police sergeant and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), conducted a surveillance operation at Gonzales's apartment, suspecting it was being used to facilitate drug dealing. Their investigation was separate from that of the Tulsa special investigator's, and they were apparently unaware of Cardinas's May drug sale and frequent visits to the apartment. During the surveillance, the police sergeant and ATF agent observed short-term foot traffic: three or four people separately entered Gonzales's apartment, stayed for a brief time, then left. R. Vol. 2 at 17, 26-27. This foot traffic corroborated the sergeant and agent's suspicions of drug activity, and they decided to confront the occupants of the apartment. When the sergeant and ATF agent approached the apartment, they encountered Cardinas as he was leaving. They asked him whether the apartment was his; he answered no, and they patted him down for drugs and weapons. Finding nothing, the sergeant and agent proceeded to knock on Gonzales's door and obtain permission to enter and search his apartment. Cardinas remained at the scene while the officers conducted their search. During their search, the sergeant and ATF agent found nearly two pounds of methamphetamine packaged in numerous plastic bags, as well as a set of digital scales commonly used to weigh quantities of drugs. Upon finding this evidence, they arrested Gonzales, and he proceeded to tell the sergeant and ATF agent he received the drugs and scales from a man named Tony. Gonzales claimed he had planned to sell the drugs and pay Tony with the proceeds. Based on this information, the sergeant and ATF agent allowed Cardinas and several other men who were present in the apartment to leave. At the time, the sergeant and ATF agent did not suspect Cardinas played a role in the possession or distribution of the seized methamphetamine. Later that night, the police sergeant communicated with the Tulsa special investigator who had previously surveilled Cardinas. The sergeant found out for the first time that the special investigator had already obtained a warrant to search Cardinas's own apartment based on information the special investigator had gathered over the previous two months. The sergeant informed the special investigator of Gonzales's arrest and Cardinas's presence at the stash house that evening, and the Tulsa police executed the search warrant early the next morning, on June 13, 2007. The police did not find any drugs or drug paraphernalia at Cardinas's apartment. They did, however, find a large amount of cash. [2] Cardinas was later charged with possession, with intent to distribute, the drugs found at Gonzales's apartment.