In spite of the team’s name, members of the Cass County Drug Enforcement Team have been responsible for helping to crack cases throughout the county, including those unrelated to narcotics.

One of those cases took place last spring, when the drug team assisted other law enforcement officers in the investigation of an armed robbery that took place at the Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union in March of last year. Thanks to CCDET detectives pulling fingerprints from the crime scene, police were able to identify the suspect — 29-year-old Don Oneal Smith — a man responsible for 13 other armed robberies throughout southern Michigan and Indiana prior to hitting the Dowagiac credit union.

Alongside Elkhart police officers, the drug team began running surveillance at Smith’s residence in Indiana, and sent out a notice to surrounding police departments to be on the lookout for the suspect.

Eventually, that notice led to Smith’s arrest Illinois State Police, who discovered him robbing another bank. After taking a hostage, Smith carjacked a vehicle and led police on a back-and-forth chase throughout Illinois and Indiana.

“He [got] into a shootout with the Illinois State Police — and he [lost],” said Sgt. David Toxopeus, a detective with the drug team.

The robbery was just one of several assists the drug team offered other law enforcement officers last year, Toxopeus said.

The officer, alongside Director of Public Safety Steve Grinnewald, discussed the ongoing efforts of CCDET officers to combat drug trafficking and other crimes throughout the region during a presentation to members of Dowagiac City Council Monday. It was one of several talks that members of the team have given to the public in the weeks leading up to a pivotal millage renewal during the August Primary, in which voters will be asked to renew a .4805 mill levy on county properties that will fund the drug team for another four years.

The drug enforcement team, which is comprised of members of the Dowagiac Police Department and Cass County Sheriff’s Office, was initially formed during the late 1990s by then-Police Chief Tom Atkinson and Sheriff Joseph Underwood to combat the sale of crack/cocaine that was plaguing the streets of Dowagiac.

In 2004, county voters first passed the millage to fund the drug team. Members shifted their attention to dealing with the rise of methamphetamine production in the county, which remains one of their main focuses today, especially as Mexican-made crystal meth slowly makes its way into the county, Toxopeus said.

The drug team has also been working to stem the recent rise of heroin within the county, Toxopeus said. The drug team, along with other local officers, have begun carrying NARCAN pens, using the substance to revive people suffering the effects of heroin and other opiate overdoses.

Since their deployment late last year, officers with the Dowagiac police and Pokagon Tribal Police have used the pens to save the lives of two people suffering such attacks, Toxopeus said.

“For all intents and purposes, they were dead,” Toxopeus said. “But police officers, through the use of NARCAN, were able to save them.”

On top of drug enforcement, CCDET detectives also assisted with several other major cases last year, including helping the investigation of the Laura Stineback murder in May and the shooting at Walter Ward Park in September.

“They’re invaluable,” Grinnewald said, referring to the members of the drug team. “We could not do the things we do and solve some of the things we solve without them.”

While the country’s widespread war on drugs remains far from over, Toxopeus believes that, through the efforts of his team, Cass County is slowly winning its own battle against local dealers and users.

“When I take someone off the street, there is no one to replace him that same day,” he said. “There’s no one to replace him that same week. It takes time for someone to come in and replace him.”

 

2012-2015 ARRESTS

2012 — 142 arrests, 367 charges

2013 — 142 arrests, 312 charges

2014 — 108 arrests, 350 charges

2015 — 114 arrests, 261 charges

2016 First Quarter — 40 arrests, 109 charges

 

2012-2015 DRUG SEIZURES

2012 — $236,295

2013 — $960,414

2014 — $1,485,273

2015 — $1,649,792

2016 First Quarter — $134,621