SEC Charges Eleven in Stock Manipulation Ring

[ratso1]

Flatsixer,

I'm pretty sure the post you are responding to was meant to be a joke. Having said that, IMO, you are far closer to understanding the situation in which the hapless "DW" found himself pulled over in Sutton County, Texas. Frankly, I'm not sure that many here even understand what an "interdictive traffic stop" is.

The Concho Valley/Big Bend area of West/South Texas is a huge drug/people smuggling corridor, largely because of its proximity to Mexico, and major traffic arteries (Like I10). As a result, authorities have placed a significant presence of law enforcement personnel in that area to try to stem the tidal movement of illegal aliens and drugs into the United States. I learned just yesterday that there are going to be 20 more state troopers assigned to that area in the coming months. That's in an area that locals will tell you has/is crawling with law enforcement.

As you well stated, driving too fast, or driving too slow would be grounds for an interdictive stop. Or, it could have been a simple traffic stop that became interdictive. Adjusting his rear-view mirror, stepping out of his car before the trooper approached him, bending over inside the car, prematurely rolling down his window, etc., are all grounds for an "interdictive stop".

Most here are placing great emphasis on the "gosanangelo" article. Gosanangelo is the e-version of the San Angelo Standard Times. I can tell you from approximately 50 years of experience that whatever the SA Times prints will very often go to the "sensational".

IMO, the more factual presentation of facts was reported by the Texas DPS here:

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/annrep2007.pdf (Page 13-14)

Rather than the pullover on a somewhat lonely and barren stretch of road in West Texas being the culmination of a grandly orchestrated multi-agency, multi-year investigation, as relayed in the "gosangelo" article, the presentation of events from a far more official voice; i.e., the Texas DPS, is quite the opposite.

According to that article, here is precisely what happened:

1. DPS trooper makes interdictive stop in Sutton County, Texas. "Interdictive stop" means search of vehicle, resulting in discovery of pile of cash.

2. DPS trooper contacts a narcotic sergeant, which would have been in San Angelo, Tx, some 70 miles away.

3. The narcotics sergeant obtains additional intelligence after interviewing the driver.

4. Texas DPS obtains a warrant of arrest for the Delaware suspect and executes it after making a controlled delivery of the money seized in Sutton County.

So, unless the Texas DPS is lying, this was clearly a bottoms-up investigation that started with an interdictive stop in Texas, some basic interrogative questions from a well-trained trooper, and went up the food-chain from there.