# hypothetical drug bust questions



## starseed (Mar 10, 2012)

A few questions (this is for a short story I'm working on, so if  anyone knows about this sort of stuff it'd help me out a lot. I haven't  had the best of luck researching this on google because the situation  I'm trying to figure is so specific)

1) Say the authorities suspected someone of operating a drug production  of some sort, either a meth lab or a pot farm, etc. What do they really  need in order to get a warrant? Do they need a person to rat them out  and claim that they bought their drugs there? Would they be able to get a  warrant just because of random rumors and word of mouth stuff? Or would  they need some sort of direct evidence first?

2) Okay, now set that hypothetical aside and say that they *do* end  up getting the warrant, and they come to the house with a bunch of drug  dogs and what not to do a search. Except the catch is, the grower  randomly decided to retire from his operation a few days before and has  cleaned EVERYTHING illegal out of the house. Would that be it? Or would  they still take them in for questioning? (say for this one that they  don't have strong evidence, such as the suspect making a deal on tape,  or anything like that)

3) Now say that there are other people who lived with the suspect.  Housemates.. renters, etc. But they were not home during the time of the  search. Would the authorities be looking to question them even though  they found nothing? Or would the case be dropped upon not finding  anything?

I realize the hypotheticals in question 2 and 3 depend somewhat on what  it would take to get the warrant itself. But for my story to work I  really need there to be a warrant and then for the case to be dropped  upon not finding anything. So I'm just trying to see what the realities  of a situation like this would be. I know a lot about what happens in a  drug bust where they FIND drugs, but I don't know anyone who has  narrowly escaped one.

Thanks for any info you can provide!


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## Bloggsworth (Mar 10, 2012)

One would need to know in which country your story is set as the rules will be different in different countries. For instance, in America you would need probable cause, in the UK I think reasonable suspicion, but the exact differnce and weight of evidence between the two I don't know. This may give you some guidance http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/contents


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## C.M. Aaron (Mar 11, 2012)

In any advanced democracy the police probably need more than rumors to get a warrant. An eyewitness submitting a sworn, written statement would probably be enough to get a warrant. For two and three, the police could go either way. They might drop the investigation or they might persist, it just depends on how the stars aligned that day. The decision really could be almost random. Do the police have better leads in other cases, or is this case the best case they have despite the lack of evidence so far? How obsessed are the police on this suspect? If they really want to get this guy, they might continue to investigate. If they don't care about the suspect, they might drop their investigation.  One thing that government officials really hate is to be embarrassed. If the police were to raid a place but find no evidence, and the press learned about it, how would the lead investigator react to the embarrassment? Would he drop the case and put as much distance between himself and the embarrassment as possible? Or would he persist in the hope that he could eventually prove that he had been right all along? Different policemen will answer that question different ways, so you can tell your story anyway you want. So long as you develope your characters properly, any response will be credible.


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## Ditch (Mar 11, 2012)

1.  An actual search warrant is the end result of often a long and expensive surveillance and investigation. Police will know that a home is dealing drugs but need hard evidence such as an amount that would indicate not only the possession, but the intent to distribute drugs. For example, a bag of weed is possession, a pound of bagged up weed is intent to distribute, a much stiffer charge. After spending a lot of time watching the traffic go in and out, they want to be certain that the drugs are there. In real life, they will have the warrant typed up with the names and addresses only needing the date filled in and a judge to sign it. They will often stake out the premises for weeks, even disguised as a telephone repair truck and watch. Repeat offenders are know, so they will wait for one who is on parole or probation to make a visit (buy), then pull that person over when they leave. They will then threaten to send them to prison by having their probation revoked unless they agree to make a buy, using marked bills or a wire or both. Once this buy is made and the snitch tells them he saw (whatever amount of drugs), a judge will sign the warrant and they will kick the door in.

2. You and anyone else on the premises is automatically considered under arrest once the warrant is executed. Anyone there would be taken to jail for questioning. But, by following the time tested methods I mentioned above, it is actually very rare that a raid takes place without finding some drugs. The police do not want to tip their hand and want to make sure that the bust will stick. They will not act without immediate and quantitative hard evidence. 

3. The police will know who the main supplier is before any raid. Someone simply living at the address with them might make them a user, mule or a piggy back.


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## starseed (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks for your answers. The story is set in the Southern United States. This storyline is more of a side plot, and the drug dealer person isn't my MC, so the details are not super important as long as they don't mess up the storyline for the MC (him getting questioned or getting in trouble would mess things up). 

I've asked a lot of different people now and from what I gather I should be able to have the flexibility to do what I need to. I'll just leave out any details that aren't important to my MC's storyline and let them remain in mystery.


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## philistine (Mar 11, 2012)

The US, you say? I'm fairly sure they'd batter the door down, taze everyone in sight before they uttered so much as a syllable of surprise, then scarper and immediately fudge the relevant documents.

I jest, of course. 

As already mentioned, British police forces operate on reasonable suspicion. There was actually a marijuana raid a few miles from my house several weeks ago. Apparently, the odour of the plants was seeping into the street, and everyone walking within a certain distance was inundated with the smell. I guess they complained, and well, once the complaints built up, they were busted.


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## Rustgold (Mar 11, 2012)

Type of drugs make a major difference to the collection of evidence.  Depending on what it is, there's special cameras which can identify a crop by its heat signature.

I'm sure there'll be something in one of the google pages

Google


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## riverdog (Mar 15, 2012)

Probable cause.  A sworn statement by a confidential informant will likely be all you would need to get a judge to sign a search warrant.

No need to get any more technical than that of its just a side story.  Guy gets picked up for possession, cops ask where he got it.  He says from the big meth lab on east street.  Signs statement to that effect.  Cops take statement to judge.  Judge signs the warrant and the swat team rolls in.  It's fiction so you can skip a lot of the minutia and red tape that really exists.


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