Crime Reduction
The Puerto Rican government has implemented a series of law enforcement operations in relation to the federal "war on drugs" in order to minimize drug-related crimes and trafficking on the island. In 1985, the government started Operation Greenback, an investigation by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), into the inconsistencies between the drastic increase of cash flow into the Puerto Rican economy and the double digit unemployment rate and bad economy in the 70s and early 1980s. The operation uncovered money laundering schemes from within financial institutions and from the sale of illegal lottery ticket sales. Federal agents raided 10 banks and arrested 17 people on money laundering charges.
In 1990, Operation Lucky Strike, was put in motion by the FBI and local law enforcement officials, when residents of Vega Baja unearthed $20 million dollars on a nearby farm. They tried to stop the circulation of the illegal money and mobilized to arrest the individuals connected to the money. In 1993, the Puerto Rican government used the National Guard to help local police in controlling street crime, and later used them again to occupy about a dozen public housing projects in and around San Juan, that police deemed as "hot spots" for drug-related crimes. The operation produced the seizure of 1,200 bags of cocaine, 216 bags of marijuana, 369 capsules of crack, 1,142 bags of heroin, 3 kilos of rock cocaine, and 1 kilo of heroin.
Read more about this topic: Crime In Puerto Rico
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