Saratoga News

Sting Operation at LGHS

By Jeff Kearns

Los Gatos police arrived at Los Gatos High School just after the start of morning classes Dec. 18 with arrest warrants for six students wanted for selling drugs to an undercover agent. A team of officers pulled five students from classrooms and placed them under arrest, but a sixth student is still being sought.

The arrests come at the end of a three-month investigation which began when an undercover officer from the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team (SCCSET) enrolled in the school at the start of the academic year. Police decided to keep investigating the school because of continuing concerns about drug sales and use, despite an already extensive anti-drug effort. School officials have also been using a drug-sniffing dog in recent weeks.

The undercover agent was working under the supervision of the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, which works to control drug sales, gang activity and violent crime.

All of the arrests were for narcotics sales, including marijuana, LSD and Ritalin. Police also found one student in possession of cocaine packaged for sale.

The student who fled, Jesse Brown, 18, is still being pursued by the SCCSET for selling pot and mushrooms and for possessing an illegal weapon.

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