midnight toker420

Normally I would not be so concerned about my safety as a toker in today's ridiculous war on drugs but recently I learned of something scary. I live in a small town so there's not much to worry about, but recently I found out from a high-level dealer that a nearby town just set up a secret drug task force. And by secret, I mean a 21 million dollar grant from the government going right to the police force to stop the drugs. We have had quite a few busts around here lately and have had problems with drugs in the high schools. This task force is setup to stop high level bud dealers, other low level drug dealers and problems associated with alcohol. I've heard they care more about alcohol than bud. Anyway the dealer said he was flagged and the cops are watching him. Apparently they pulled him over once and upon handing them his license, he was thrown out of the car, beat up, and his car searched immediately. He also described particular helicopters that fly over the county looking for weed grows or stashes. One thing that I was concerned about though was the cell phone issue. He said the police can trace your cell phone usage, pinpoint your location, even look into your records without a warrant. I've heard of this happening before so I agreed but he said there was a way around it. He said he carries around multiple Tracfones, you know one of those pre-paid deals where you just buy minutes. He said the phone isn't traceable and isn't tied to you. He said all they have on you is the phone number itself and no way to know if that is you using it or not. He also said the company isn't located in the U.S. so it's out of their jurisdiction to do much tracing of it.

I'm not too concerned about being red-flagged myself, but I was wondering if anyone knows about the security of cell phone usage. I know anything sent over the open air can be intercepted and used against you, but from my understanding Tracfones can't be traced. Can someone enlighten me on this subject?

midnight toker420

I also wanted to add that I found out that there is now over 1000 agents in the task force, including 10 individual helicopter spotters, and I found out that when they couldn't recruit people from the police or police's families to be on the force, they put out an ad in the newspaper classifieds getting people to join. Also I found out that one of the agents is actually a DEA agent that lives just 4 doors down from my buddy. My buddy was in his house and said there is a picture of him with the president. I don't know if I'm overly paranoid and just hugging the window too much but one thing I do know is law enforcement is really cracking down around here.

Buzzby

This sounds like someone's major paranoid fantasy to me.

If it's a secret, how does he know so much about it? The US government doesn't pass out $21,000,000 grants to small town police forces or county "task forces".

How could a helicopter identify a stash unless someone stenciled "STASH" on the roof in giant letters?

If they've got a recording of the conversation, then they know if it's you or not. Voice identification software has gotten very sophisticated.

This clearly identifies the whole story as bullshit. First it's a "secret task force" about which you "know" an awful lot of details, many of which don't make any sense. Now they have a "secret" army of 1,000 agents running around your county with a squadron of black helicopters. These "agents" aren't sworn LEOs, they're ordinary people who answered a newspaper ad to join this "secret" army. And the US government is paying $21,000,000 for these Junior G-Men. (Do they get secret decoder rings? ) Where's the "secret"?

I have a picture of me with President Bush. Does that make me a DEA agent? I'm thinking that your buddy smokes too much. The DEA isn't interested in anything less than 100 pounds or 100 plants.

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Andrew87

They can subpoena the phone records. My understanding is that usually, the phone company will give them up without resistance. I have mixed feelings about that one.

IMO, this makes him look more suspicious than virtually anything else that he could do. If he were to get pulled over and it was found that he had multiple pre-paid phones either on his person or in the car, the police will know exactly what's up.

In short, if you aren't dealing, you really don't have anything to worry about. Switching to a pre-paid cellphone would be overdoing it a little, in my opinion.

That is my understanding as well. However, I can't say I'm 100% on it...

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The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants. -- Albert Camus

midnight toker420

Thanks Andrew- but I really do wonder if they can track Tracfones. Also I wonder if my local narcotics agency would go through the trouble of obtaining and looking at cell phone records to make a bust on an individual dealer. I personally do not support drug dealing, as I see it as profiteering but I find that since bud is illegal I don't have much choice but to support profiteering. This is why I write letters to my state and national legislature representatives so one day the law can change. Hunter Thompson said it himself..all prohibition does is make criminals rich. Do we really want criminals to have all the money?

BartSimpson

You seem to be genuine in your interest - so let me offer some opinion:

The story does not add up; 21 million dollar programs are not going to be secret, small town police are not likely looking for helicopter spotters on Craig's List, and your source is not giving you a straight story. You really should know that there are serious drug issues involving off-topic substances that are the focus of the "war on drugs". Your "friends" neighbor could just be a clean-cut fellow who is law and order minded, which is likely what my neighbors think of me.

Tracfones are generally not traceable, and are called throw-aways because of that - but that does not mean that the tracing of such phones is impossible. A search warrant would still be needed, but the data is there if required - Jack Bauer might be able to get around the system, but Joe-Leo will need to use the normal channels.

Tiny little piss-ant MJ smokers like you and me are not really of interest to law enforcement. In 30 years, I have had contact once with an LEO for MJ, because I put weed in my luggage in an airport. I practice certain principles and never worry.

You, too, should practice these principles - start with the fact that groups of young males will always attract attention no matter what, vehicles will always be subject to search and Marijuana is Illegal. Never combine any more than two of these elements, otherwise you have the teenage trifecta. Groups of young men, in a vehicle, with weed, are always busted. If you are serious about avoiding getting busted - just follow these simple rules.

I also recommend a tin-foil hat to prevent those helicopters from reading your mind, but I'm an old fart and we didn't have tin-foil in my youth. So your mileage may vary.

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troublemaker_42

I agree with Bart here. The story doesn't add up, and while a drug task force may have been set up, I have extreme doubts that its actually as extensive as the OP claims. It doesn't add up at all, and I'm pretty familiar with how such groups are structured.

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Ted Nugent: "To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic."


If total government control equals safety, why are prisons so dangerous?

Snipe¤Star

i know i was like.. wtf kind of small town does this guy live in...

duckmn56

yeah I dont mean to make a joke of this but in my hometown they had a drug task force which consisted of the local police actually doing their job protecting and serving they found like 40 some meth labs in a town of 4000 people wow.....
I dunno if they got more funding but I imagine cuz thats how it works

805kween

im almost 100% sure that the police cannot tap into anything from tracfone..

and its not like the police are going to be looking for a few ounces for weed even if the task force was that big.

i wouldnt go blaze on the street but even if you did i doubt if they would say anything.