As a seasoned legal professional, I've navigated numerous cases involving narcotics detectives in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. These detectives, part of a specialized unit, are known for their aggressive tactics in narcotics arrests. They often leverage the fear of severe consequences to coerce individuals into providing information about drug activities.

That's how they obtain many of their cases. They catch somebody, and then they say, listen, if you don't tell us where you got these drugs from or where we can see people selling drugs, we're going to take you, we're going to take your kids away, we're going to put you in prison – they threaten them and get them to give information about where they got their drugs.

Now, they go and sit in that house, conduct surveillance, gather any available information, obtain a search warrant, and search the premises to try to find something. Then they do it all over again, threatening people to get them to give them information.

In my experience, having dealt with California narcotic cases for twenty-five years and seeing how these detectives handle instances, they're pretty sloppy. They're lazy, and often, they'll arrest someone. They'll charge them with sales or possession for sales, and then you go to court. However, they often fail to file the case, a common tactic among prosecutors seeking cooperation from the accused.

The detectives go to the prosecutors, and the prosecutors review the drug case and say, "No, we're not going to file this case." You guys didn't do a good job. You didn't follow up on specific leads. So, they make them go and check out separate tips before they file the case. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers will explain this subject in more detail below.

Follow-Up Drug Investigations

Often, you'll go to court, and the case will be continued for a couple of weeks so they can conduct their follow-up investigation. One would ask why they don't just conduct the research in the first place and take care of business. But again, they're lazy. They would probably say they're overworked, but they're not. It's not that difficult, especially when somebody bails out, and you have a month to get the case together, and you still can't do it.

That's a little frustrating because people post bail, only to come back again. If they return and the case is not filed, then they have the court exonerate the bail. That's great, but the problem is that they come and re-arrest you and make you post another bail when they file the case two, three, or four months later.

If you have a narcotics case in the San Fernando Valley – and you're dealing with these Valley detectives involved in vice and narcotics – you've got to get a criminal defense attorney who knows their tricks. They illegally search people. They illegally stop people. They illegally arrest people. They lie about how they do things.

One instance that stands out is when I caught a detective lying in court about the location of an alleged drug transaction involving my client. His partner, sitting in the car next to him, had a completely different account. This incident is just one example of the unprofessional conduct of these detectives. They don't follow the right procedures, and this is where a skilled defense attorney can make a difference.

So, if you've got a drug crime case of possession for sale or a sales case, contact an attorney who's done this before. I have you come in. You tell me what happened, so we can develop our game plan together, and then I'll have to see how these guys write the police report and determine what we can do to catch them in their lies. Now, more and more, we're able to catch them because there's video, including bodycam footage, and cars equipped with video cameras. Even private citizens have videos.

With the advent of video evidence and a thorough investigation, we can often challenge these illegal stops, searches, and arrests. However, to build a strong defense, I need you to be honest and provide me with all the details of your case. This will help me figure out the best way to assist you if the narcotics unit is investigating you.