Drug War's dangerous side effects

[marmar]

from the Detroit Metro Times:



Drug War's dangerous side effects
Did cop’s use of informant lead to her death?

By Larry Gabriel
Published: March 21, 2012


This is an ugly story. It's tragic and damning of the War on Drugs. The story seems like the plot of a television detective series such as The Closer or Law and Order but it is sadly a true tale of law and disorder.

Michelle "Shelley" Hilliard went missing in the early hours of Oct. 23. Nearly three weeks later, her burned, dismembered body was found near I-94 on Detroit's east side. Once the body was identified, the killing was at first considered a hate crime because Hilliard was transgendered and there had been a recent trend of attacks against gays where burning was involved. However, in the weeks that followed, a different scenario emerged.

According to news reports, on Oct. 20, the 19-year-old Hilliard was busted with a small amount of marijuana in Madison Heights. As often happens in cases like this, Oakland County Drug Task Force officers made an offer of some type of leniency if Hilliard helped them reel in a bigger fish.

Hilliard apparently agreed to help set up a sting against Qasim Raqib. She allegedly told Raqib she knew someone who wanted to buy $335 worth of cocaine and marijuana. They set up a meeting at the Motel 6 in Madison Heights; police arrested Raqib during a traffic stop on his way there. He made bail and was freed several hours after the arrest. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://metrotimes.com/mmj/drug-war-s-dangerous-side-effects-1.1288395

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[mdmc]

2. ..

[mdmc]

3. ..

[mdmc]

4. ..