Seattle, King County officers conduct ‘Blade Runner’ drug busts
Jun 5, 2012, 11:23 AM | Updated: 2:17 pm
Drug crime in downtown Seattle is hardly the makings of a
science fiction thriller, but in an effort to crack down on
street-level drug crime, officers launched “Operation Blade
Runner.”
Following rising community concerns about open-air drug
deals, particularly through the Pike-Pine corridor, Seattle
Police teamed with King County Sheriff’s deputies to round
up criminals.
Undercover officers began by conducting “buy and slides.”
The officer would purchase drugs from the dealer and “slide”
away, in order to build a larger case.
On June 1 and 2, officers targeted the dealers from earlier
“buy and slides” and placed them under arrest.
“Just in the course of us being down there and doing the various activity, looking around for these guys to arrest, we came across additional crimes,” said Seattle Police spokesman Jeff Kappel. “So we arrested nine additional suspects.”
Officers had a list of 42 suspects, and in the two day
period they conducted Blade Runner, arrested 29 of them.
The 13 remaining suspects will be arrested when located.
“We have our narcotics and major crime detectives, our patrol officers and bike officers who may have pictures and names of [the remaining suspects,]” Kappel said.
Although the initial Operation Blade Runner sting is over, Kappel said that the area will continue to be a focus of Seattle police and King County deputies.
