News Release
March 25, 2004

Novi Police and DEA Detroit Combine for Record Money Seizure

Detroit SAC John Gilbride and Novi Police Chief Douglas Schaeffer are joined by Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer, West Bloomfield Police Chief Ronald Cronin, and Detroit DEA ASAC John Arvanitis in announcing the second largest seizure of drug money in Michigan history

Detroit, MI- On March 18, 2004, Novi Police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the South Oakland Narcotics Intelligence Consortium (SONIC) made the second largest seizure of drug money in Michigan history.

The money seizure totaled $4,795,668.00 and is the drug proceeds of a multi-state drug trafficking organization with ties to the southwestern United States. Three individuals were arrested in conjunction with the investigation. The investigation will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan.

Novi Police Chief Douglas Schaeffer said that his department received a call from a frantic woman who led police to two hotel rooms in the Extended Stay hotel in Novi. The woman, a Mexican National, believed that the occupants of the room had been harmed. No victims were found in the rooms, but the woman showed the police several large duffel bags that were filled with cash.

Further investigation resulted in SONIC officers assisting DEA agents in tracking two men, one a 39 year old from Arizona, the other a 30 year old from Texas, to a home in Northville, Michigan. At the Northville location an additional quantity of U.S. currency was seized and the two men were taken into custody. A quantity of marijuana and several weapons were also seized from the two locations.

DEA Special Agent in Charge John P. Gilbride said, “the Novi Police along with the SONIC officers are to be commended for their fine police work from the onset of this investigation. The DEA, in conjunction with the officers from Novi and SONIC, will continue to utilize all available resources to identify the full scale and scope of this drug trafficking/money laundering organization and totally dismantle their operations.”