Page 479 - NIXBOOK

find the illegal narcotics hidden in the house to be searched. The entry team guys, usually 5 or 6, would include a door breacher
armed with a door ram for knocking in the front door. Once the entry team busted in and arrested all the occupants in the
house, they’d divide into other roles; some would photograph everything, some would collect evidence, and some would
interview the bad guys. If a meth lab was present, then a cleanup team would be present to go in with hazmat suits and cart out
the chemicals and equipment.
There would be photos of the house, both publicly available pics and usually covert photos taken in the week or two previous
to the operation. And there would be a copy of the official search warrant, the probable cause statement, a brief history of any
drug sales made to undercover officers or informants, and a map of where the house is exactly. The amount of the research and
preparation for these events was always pretty impressive.

After the briefing everybody would load up. Usually the SOG guys would pile into a large unmarked van and then we’d all close
in on the target house, which would usually be already under observation. The general goal would be to catch as many bad guys
there as possible. This meant that as a general rule, there would be some waiting involved to make sure that the wanted bad
guys were in fact home and not out running errands. Sometimes we’d stage a mile or two away and wait literally for a few hours,
until the surveillance team (in unmarked cars) would see the main guys show up; then we’d roll in.

The van would stop around the corner from the target house, and the entry team would jump out and line up close; each guy
would even have one hand on the shoulder of the guy in front of him; with their other hand they had their rifles and pistols out
in a “low ready” aim. The guy in front would have a riot shield, and everybody had a ballistic helmet. If they were wearing civilian
clothes (they almost always did) then they would strap on ballistic vests over their shirts or jackets, complete with large POLICE
lettering. (Yes I know you want some pictures of these operations but I knew better than to ever ask the other guys)
Marked patrol car units would then position themselves either in front of the house, behind the house, and at the both ends of
the street to assure the general public the situation was under control and official.

The entry team would go up to the house, use a battering ram to blow the door open, and then they’d pour and grab everybody
inside. Once the house was secure, one or more detectives would separate and interview the suspects; another detective would
photograph everything in the house, and then the searching would begin.

That’s where I would come in. I’d first do a walk-
through of the house to see if there was anything
dangerous that might trip up or injure Kilo, and I’d a get
an idea of what the house rooms looked like. If there
were any cats present we’d send them out or lock them
up in a room or cabinet, then I’d make sure the back
door was closed and then I’d bring in the Kilo,
preferably off-leash and tell him to go sniff out the
drugs. On a fun scale, this whole operation – except for
the waiting part – was pretty high.

Now despite all the planning, every single search
operation had at least one thing go wrong, mostly
because the bad guys didn’t read the plan and didn’t
know what their roles were exactly. This is a universal
truth. Ask any special operator who has had any experience in this field and they’ll whole heartedly agree. The bad guys might
not be at the house when it’s hit, or they don’t have all their drugs with them at that time, or they don’t have the cash we want,
or maybe other people would be present who weren’t supposed to be there, or any number of other complications possible or
probable. Every single operation I participated in had at least one snag. I remember one night at a trailer out in a field; we’re
executing a search warrant and the old lady who lived with her criminal son there came out on the front porch with a shotgun
and starting yelling at us to get off her property. “I’m going to call the police!” She kept yelling. “We ARE the police! Put your
gun down!” we had to yell back.