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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Wednesday, September 12, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Olympic NP Multi-Year Drug Investigation Concludes With Arrests, Seizures On Tuesday, August 28th, investigators from an interagency narcotics enforcement team that included NPS personnel culminated an investigation of several years duration into a major drug trafficking organization operating along the northwest coast of Washington. Investigators from numerous local Olympic Peninsula agencies worked with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the National Park Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration to make simultaneous arrests of the leaders and conspirators of this organization and execute search warrants of their residences. During these raids, the organization's top leaders were arrested, including five illegal Mexican nationals. Over two-and-a-half pounds of crystal methamphetamine, a half pound of cocaine, a half pound of marijuana, four firearms, and more than $26,000 in cash were seized. All arrestees were transported to Tacoma, Washington, for their initial hearing and were turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Attorney is considering the charges to be filed against those arrested. Another member of the organization was arrested in a traffic enforcement operation in the park on August 24th (click on “More Information” for a copy of that report). Over a half pound of marijuana, a half pound of methamphetamine and a quarter pound of cocaine were seized in that arrest. The total amount of drugs and money taken off the street on the Olympic Peninsula as a result of this investigation comes to over $40,000 in cash and several pounds of methamphetamine and marijuana. The street value of the methamphetamine alone has been placed at over $108,000. [Barb Maynes, Public Affairs Officer] HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=3473" http://classicinside.nps.gov/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=3473 Lake Roosevelt NRA Fatal Tubing Accident On the afternoon of September 4th, 58-year-old D.Z. of Snohomish was being towed on a tube about 60 feet behind rental houseboat. The tube started plowing under water and D.Z. was pulled under with it. After holding on for a few seconds, he started to panic and signaled to the boat. It took a minute or two to turn the houseboat around, though, and by the time those on board reached him he was unresponsive. They pulled him into the houseboat and immediately began CPR. Shortly thereafter, Lincoln County dispatch notified ranger Adam Kelsey of a “man overboard” near Keller Ferry, adding that CPR was in progress. Kelsey, marina employee Patrick Schluter and ambulance crew member Eric Cassidy responded on a marina vessel. They found the houseboat in the middle of the lake near Sterling Point. CPR was continued with the aid of a bag valve mask and an AED, but Ziegler could not be revived. He was taken to the Lincoln Mill boat launch, where an ambulance crew continued CPR. A Med Star helicopter arrived on scene and the crew provided advanced life support care. Efforts to revive Ziegler were suspended following consultation with medical control, and his body was taken to a funeral home. This was the park's second boating fatality this season. [Margaret Goodro, Chief Ranger] Blue Ridge Parkway High Speed A Factor In Fatal Motorcycle Accident On Saturday, September 1st, W.S., Jr., 47, of Micanopy, Florida, was killed in a motorcycle wreck near milepost 432. W.S. was traveling southbound when the accident occurred. His speed at the time of the crash was determined to have been close to 75 mph. Further investigation from the motorcycle GPS also revealed significant speed points between 75 and 102 mph while on the parkway, with a speed point of 75 mph at the time of the wreck. W.S. was participating in a BMW motorcycle rally prior to the crash. [Tim Francis, Pisgah District Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites are, respectively, HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/ and ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). * Olympic NP - The first active phase of the long-planned restoration of the Elwha River begins on Friday with a ceremonial ground-breaking for a new water treatment plant. * Yukon-Charley Rivers NP - Last year, InsideNPS carried a report of a military team, assisted by an NPS historian, locating the remains of a crew member from a WWII B-24 bomber that had crashed in what is now the park. DOD has since identified the crew member, whose remains have been interred with full honors in Arlington National Cemetery. * Gettysburg NMP - Chicago Tribune news article: Gettysburg is at the forefront of an effort to restore many Civil War battlefields to something more closely resembling their appearance when they were the scenes of bloody struggles between the forces of North and South. * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-686-3828). --- ### --- |