Criminology and Psychology

man is dead after being shot by a sheriff's deputy during a law enforcement sweep through Buffalo to round up members of a violent drug gang. Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson says a Niagara County sheriff's deputy fired at the man inside a home Tuesday morning after the man aimed a gun at the officer. The man's name was not released. He was pronounced dead at a Buffalo hospital. The shooting happened as 400 officers from several agencies participated in Operation Third Strike, fanning out at 5 a.m. with federal arrest warrants. About 20 suspects are in custody. The shooting is under investigation

A year-long investigation involving undercover surveillance and wiretaps has led to the arrests of 36 Buffalo-area suspects on felony cocaine distribution charges. The suspects have been the focus of local, state, and federal law enforcement scrutiny for months. They are accused of operating a cocaine distribution ring from a number of locations in Buffalo, the towns of Amherst and Clarence, and Lockport. Their illegal drug-dealing activities, according to investigators, were mainly concentrated in Erie County's northtowns. Telephone wiretaps were key to the successful dismantling of this cocaine trafficking organization, according to U.S. Attorney Terrance Flynn."Based upon the state wiretaps, in the past year law enforcement was able to identify these 36 individuals, who were specifically selling and distributing cocaine, as well as marijuana and possibly other drugs," said Flynn. At its height, the ring was netting about $10,000 a week in illegal drug sales. The suspec...

Oshawa trucker hauling a just-in-time delivery of aircraft parts is idling in a jail in Buffalo, N.Y., after being accused of hauling 125 kilograms of marijuana in his cargo. U.S. border officials say Monday's seizure brings the total of Ontario marijuana seized from Toronto-area trucks crossing the border to more than $10 million in the last year. U.S. Customs says it has arrested two Toronto-area truckers each month for smuggling drugs. In this case, the trucker was arrested while taking a load to New Jersey. He was crossing at the Peace Bridge when his rig was examined with gamma-ray technology. Police from both sides of the border are now targeting crime rings using trucking companies for cross-border smuggling. "We have seen an increase in the smuggling of marijuana in the last five years,'' Kevin Corsaro of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.