Amtrak, Drug Agents Fight Traffic : Cocaine Runners Taking the Train

WASHINGTON — To avoid the police dogs at South Florida airports and surveillance on Interstate 95, more and more couriers are taking the train to move cocaine from wholesalers in Miami to markets in the Northeast--but they may encounter a major snag at Washington’s Union Station.

Federal drug enforcement officials there are using similar tactics to catch couriers traveling on Amtrak’s Silver Star and Silver Meteor trains.

Between February and March, at least 12 people have been arrested and nearly pounds of cocaine--which police said could be worth $2.75 million--was seized while trains were stopped at Union Station to change locomotives.

All of the suspects were singled out in advance by Amtrak security personnel using a drug-courier “profile” that describes such people as likely to travel with little luggage or under an assumed name. Amtrak guards watch passengers for suspicious behavior, such as nervousness or keeping their luggage with them in the lounge car.

Most of the arrests occur after Max 25, a German short-haired pointer, is taken through a train and indicates the presence of drugs in a sleeping compartment or coach car.

No Details Given

Drug Enforcement Administration and Amtrak officials acknowledge that there is a special enforcement program here, but they would not give details.

Robert Penland, acting assistant special agent in charge of the DEA field office here, and Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said that similar crackdowns on traffickers using trains have been carried out by agents in Richmond, Va., Baltimore and Miami.

Details of the operation, which produced its first arrest on Feb. 19, were obtained from court documents and testimony in court during hearings for the suspects.

Law enforcement sources said that the program, the first such effort here, has been unusually successful. They said that state troopers in Delaware and Maryland have spotted so many potential suspects as they drove through Interstate 95 toll booths that couriers were forced to switch to rail travel.

Much of the cocaine found on trains here was packaged in one-kilogram bricks and carried in luggage. At least one package was gift-wrapped. Three kilograms were taken from one suspect’s luggage. In another incident, a juvenile said that he was holding about half a pound of cocaine for a man who was his neighbor in New York.

Behavior Tip-Offs

One suspect, spotted because he was carrying only one small bag and had paid cash for his ticket shortly before the train departed, ran from the train when DEA agents questioned him, and knocked down an Amtrak inspector. He was arrested about a mile away as he emerged from the Amtrak tunnel that goes under Capitol Hill.

A pistol, almost 200 rounds of ammunition and $140,200 in cash were later found in his carry-on bag.

Sources said there does not appear to be any connection among the suspects found on trains.

Court documents and testimony show that Amtrak drug enforcement officers monitor information given when reservations are made or tickets are purchased, as well as passengers’ conversations, to identify people who match the profile of a typical drug courier.

Information about suspected passengers is developed by Amtrak and DEA agents while the trains are en route from Miami to Washington. (The Silver Star, train No. 92, leaves Miami at 5:40 p.m. and arrives here at 3:40 p.m. the next day. The Silver Meteor, train No. 98-88, leaves Miami at 8:40 a.m. and arrives at 6:45 the next morning.)

Most of those found to be carrying a kilogram or more of cocaine were traveling in sleeping-car compartments, which can be locked only from the inside.

Man Acted Suspicious

DEA Special Agent Robert Sauve testified during a hearing in March that Thomas E. Charters, 46, of Philadelphia, was spotted after an Amtrak employee reported that Charters kept his luggage at his side while he spent the evening in the lounge car.

Sauve said that Amtrak alerted the DEA to Charters’ behavior, and about two other suspected couriers on the Silver Star before the train arrived here.

The change of locomotives takes at least 20 minutes, enough time for Max 25 to do his work, Sauve said.

The District of Columbia police dog is assigned with his handler, Detective Michael E. Bernier, to the DEA task force here, according to police and DEA officials.

Sauve said that Bernier took Max 25 through the sleeping car. After passing several compartments, the dog sniffed intently as it reached Bedroom F, and then began scratching furiously at the compartment door, Sauve said.

Sauve said that he knocked at the door of the sleeping compartment, and when Charters and his woman companion opened the door, they were told that the dog had “alerted” at their room. Bernier asked for permission to search the room and luggage.

Charters at first refused. He was told that his luggage would be held while a search warrant was obtained, Sauve said. He said Charters then permitted a search of the room and luggage.

A gift package found in Charters’ luggage was found to contain a kilogram of cocaine, Sauve testified.

Charters and his friend were charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Charges against the woman were later dismissed.