Thursday, November 08, 2007

Where do they come up with these numbers?

Montgomery Advertiser

The Criminal Reduction Team of the Montgomery Police Department confiscated more than $23,000 in illegal drugs and in cash from drug dealers in October, according to Capt. Huey Thornton, a police spokesman. The team was implemented to respond to high-crime areas and address street-level crimes such as open-air drug activities and random firing of weapons.

The following statistics represent the team’s activities in October:
-- Marijuana confiscated: 1,164 grams, street value of $11,640
-- Crack cocaine confiscated: 41 grams, street value of $4,100
-- Powder cocaine confiscated: 40 grams, street value of $4,000
-- Ecstasy confiscated: 86 pills, street value of $860
-- Cash confiscated from drug dealers: $2,509
-- Weapons seized: 33
-- Felony arrests: 69
-- Misdemeanor arrests: 52
-- Capias warrants (traffic warrants) served: 196
-- Stolen vehicles recovered: 3

All of the arrests and confiscations resulted from recent complaints from residents about criminal activity in their neighborhoods, according to police.
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I do wonder what kind of math these folks learned in school. Let's see. Going rate for a pound of weed is around $1600 wholesale if it is just regular weed and not high-end stuff (which is really hard to find around here). A 1/4 oz. runs $40 and has not changed since I was a kid.

The article says that police seized 1,164 grams for a total of $11,640. There are 28 grams in an ounce and 16 ounces in a pound. So 16 x 28 = 448 grams in a pound. They seized around 2.6 pounds of pot and they are claiming it is worth $11,640? For 2.6 pounds? Are they joking? Over $5000 a pound? Even if every gram was sold in $5 (nickle) bags containing exactly 1 gram that would have only come to $2240 street value per pound.

Granted, in large cities outside of Alabama, where truly excellent pot is available, the value they are placing on a 2.6 pounds is not unheard of....but this is Montgomery, AL and unless something drastic has happened in the last year that caused the streets to be flooded with primo smoke I just don't buy these numbers. I've had good smoke in my lifetime that came out of Montgomery...but not $5000 a pound smoke.

Hey Montgomerian's....how about a report from the street....is there really some primo $5000 a pound weed down there I don't know about?



2 comments:

paulie said...

The coke and crack prices they presume sound like real ripoffs too (shocker, I know!) but the ecstasy price might actually be in line with retail prices.

Loretta Nall said...

Wow Ecstacy has come down to $10 a hit? When I did it about 8 years ago the going price was between $35-$45. I haven't seen or heard of any around here in a long time.