45-year-old Jeanette Joan Houchens is just one of several participants in the JADE Task Force’s “Catch and Release” program. The Waynesboro resident, who was arrested last month in a buy/bust operation conducted by Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement, was not prosecuted in Albemarle County General District Court this morning.An unnamed spokesman for JADE says the CAR program was initially offered only to confidential informants but, after its growing success in letting drug peddlers back out on the streets, it expanded to include most females and other minorities. “It makes sense. Many of these people will be rearrested. If we can’t win the War on Drugs, we can at least make it look like we are” he said.
Authorities hope to eventually have all but upper-level dealers benefit from CAR. According to court records JADE is well on its way to making that happen. When asked how the project had helped her, Houchens snorted and replied “Want to buy an 8-ball?”
