The Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement (JADE) Task Force has been busy. As have I.

First there is this:

Charlottesville detectives arrested three people in Albemarle County and seize $7,000 worth of cocaine in an undercover buy-bust operation.

On Friday, November 13th, JADE detectives arrested Fernando Mernio Alvarez, 34, of Waynesboro, Jeanette Joan Houchens, 45, of Waynesboro, and Enriquez Baeza Heriberto, 35, of Albemarle County on charges of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.

They were arrested while allegedly trying to sell cocaine at the intersection of Route 250 and Shadwell Station Lane in Albemarle County.

Houchens was released on $3,500 bond, and Alvarez and Heriberto were held without bond. 190 grams of cocaine were seized in the operation. Police say this is an ongoing investigation, and charges are still pending.

Source.

Granville Fields is responsible for this capture, but both Alvarez and Heriberto were snagged once before by Paul Best back in July 2008.

Secondly:

Long ago I learned from reporters that JADE had established a reputation for habitually snubbing media. Moreover, refusing to return newsmen’s phone calls and shouting at journalists were not uncommon complaints. Even if one were to present a legitimate argument that, due to the nature of their work, it’s understandable JADE would be leery about what’s broadcast, that still doesn’t excuse their conduct of snobbery and temperamental snits -- and their poorly written infrequent press releases don’t make up for it either.

Also, as big a deal as Task Force command group member Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo makes about “community relations,” JADE’s unwillingness to even remotely communicate with area residents is no secret. I dare an average citizen to contact any one of these guys and ask a couple of reasonable innocuous questions. See how far ya get.

I’m not complaining, as those two factors have to a great extent been superific for I HeArTE JADE. Hey, if the Task Force won’t supply the public with information, the public will go to a source that will. So, in the spirit of providing as much JADE-related junk as possible...

While only a sole mainstream publication initially covered the Martin Luther Foster story, nary a one bothered with a follow-up. It needn’t have been given a big to-do; a mention that the case agent was JADE’s VA State Policeman Joe Fleming, that yesterday, November 17, 2009, Mr. Foster was convicted in Albemarle Circuit Court, and that sentencing is to follow at a later date, would’ve done it.

Third and final gets its own entry:

Here.