Raid

Last month's raid on the Patapsco Flea Market in Southwest Baltimore netted $47.3 million worth of counterfeit luxury goods, the largest seizure at a flea market in the United States, federal authorities announced Thursday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations also confiscated $1.5 million in cash, which it described as "suspected criminal proceeds. " Federal officials released new details of the April 22 raid on the bazaar, where authorities say vendors sold counterfeit and pirated goods with the market owner's knowledge.

A third person has been arrested by Baltimore County police as part of an investigation into the Healthy Life Medical Group prescription drug clinic in Lutherville, police said Monday. The arrest of Alina Margulis, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, on drug distribution conspiracy charges follows a May 15 raid of the clinic, in the 1100 block of York Road, by about 25 county police narcotics officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Two men identified as the operators of the clinic - Michael Jacob Reznikov, 51, also of Brooklyn; and Gerald Wiseberg, 78, of Boca Raton, Fl. - were arrested the same day as the raid, also on drug distribution conspiracy charges.

Immigration agents raided two Baltimore workplaces yesterday, including the Lexington Market, and arrested 18 employees suspected of being illegal aliens.ZTC The raids are part of increasing efforts by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to prosecute employers of undocumented workers and to arrest the employees.The agents also targeted Donut Delight Inc., a 25-year-old company with 80 employees on Georgetown Road. About 15 of the bakery's workers were questioned, but only one was arrested.

A Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge on Thursday set bail at $50,000, cash only, for two operators of the Healthy Life Medical Group, on York Road, in Lutherville, who were arrested Tuesday evening. Gerald Wiseberg, 78, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Michael Jacob Reznikov, 51, of Brooklyn, N.Y., have been indicted by a Baltimore County grand jury on charges of conspiracy to distribute "schedule II" narcotics after a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into alleged distribution and sale of Oxycodone and other prescription drugs.

A third person has been arrested by Baltimore County police as part of an investigation into the Healthy Life Medical Group prescription drug clinic in Lutherville, police said Monday. The arrest of Alina Margulis, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, on drug distribution conspiracy charges follows a May 15 raid of the clinic, in the 1100 block of York Road, by about 25 county police narcotics officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Two men identified as the operators of the clinic - Michael Jacob Reznikov, 51, also of Brooklyn; and Gerald Wiseberg, 78, of Boca Raton, Fl. - were arrested the same day as the raid, also on drug distribution conspiracy charges.

A prescription drug clinic in Timonium was raided Tuesday afternoon by Baltimore County police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, according to law enforcement officials. The raid followed a long-term investigation of the distribution and sale of oxycodone and other prescription drugs at the Healthy Life Medical Group in the 1100 block of York Road, according to Special Agent Edward Marcinko, of the DEA. About 25 police narcotics officers and DEA agents served a federal search warrant at the location shortly after 5 p.m., said Marcinko and Det. Cathy Batton, a county police spokeswoman.

From the street the faded, yellow house on Belair Road looks unassuming. Three large picture windows overlook a community recreation center and an elementary school. It's around the corner from a community baseball diamond. On one recent visit, a small American flag lay discarded on the front lawn, along with a few scattered cigarette butts. A metal pipe protrudes above a side door. Before the police raided this house, prosecutors said the pipe held a surveillance camera placed there by the operators that recorded the number of men who passed through the entrance, and helped monitor the women working inside.

Dan Rodricks ' column ("Bin Laden death: Call it execution, not 'justice,' May 5) was irresponsible journalism. The analogy to Baltimore police and the war on drugs was inapt. I suggest that Mr. Rodricks embed himself with the SEALs someday, fly in a helicopter at night deep into enemy territory, land in an enemy compound, engage in a firefight, and then conduct a room-to-room search for a terrorist. For every country except ours, the rules of engagement would be shoot everyone who was there.

Several concepts that The Sun and its reporters seemingly fail to recognize are "illegal" and "affordability. " I was amazed to read in the article "Tuition bill takes a step forward in Senate" (March 10) by Annie Linskey that roughly two dozen illegal immigrants watched the debate from the Senate gallery on Wednesday. Let's get this straight now — two dozen people who are illegally in this country are watching our state Senate debate a discount for them to attend colleges in a state that has a severe financial problem.

Undercover federal agents rented a booth at Patapsco Flea Market to gain access to its management as part of a 2 1/2 -year sting targeting merchants selling counterfeit and pirated goods - an investigation that resulted in a raid Sunday on the Southwest Baltimore marketplace, according to a search warrant and affidavit released Monday. Capping the intensive investigation into fake brand-name clothes and accessories, as well as pirated DVDs and musical recordings, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations confiscated numerous items being sold at the sprawling market.

A grand jury indicted two operators of a prescription drug clinic in Timonium arrested in a Tuesday raid on charges of conspiracy to distribute Schedule II narcotics. A Baltimore County Circuit Court judge set a $50,000 cash-only bail Thursday for Gerald Wiseberg of Boca Raton, Fla., and Michael Jacob Reznikov of Brooklyn, N.Y., operators at the Healthy Life Medical Group in the 1100 block of York Road. At a preliminary hearing, Wiseberg, 78, and Reznikov, 51, were prohibited from leaving the country and were ordered to give up their passports.

Two unidentified operators of a prescription drug clinic in Lutherville that was raided by Baltimore County narcotics officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents Tuesday have been arrested, according to county police. One was arrested at the Healthy Life Medical Group clinic in the 1100 block of York Road, the other at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, police said. Both have been charged with conspiracy to distribute Schedule II narcotics, which include amphetamines, methamphetamines and other drugs that can be used in a medical setting but have "a high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence," according to the DEA website.

ON THE SITE... Boy, 6, hit by SUV in Odenton :  The boy was flown to a nearby hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries Wednesday morning. Howard County native wins 2012 Sophie Kerr Prize : Kathryn Manion, a Clarksville native and graduate of Notre Dame Prep in Towson, said late Tuesday that her win was still sinking in, but that she was honored. Police, DEA raid prescription-drug clinic in Timonium : The raid followed a long-term investigation of the distribution and sale of oxycodone and other prescription drugs at the Healthy Life Medical Group in the 1100 block of York Road.

A prescription drug clinic in Timonium was raided Tuesday afternoon by Baltimore County police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, according to law enforcement officials. The raid followed a long-term investigation of the distribution and sale of oxycodone and other prescription drugs at the Healthy Life Medical Group in the 1100 block of York Road, according to Special Agent Edward Marcinko, of the DEA. About 25 police narcotics officers and DEA agents served a federal search warrant at the location shortly after 5 p.m., said Marcinko and Det. Cathy Batton, a county police spokeswoman.

Last month's raid on the Patapsco Flea Market in Southwest Baltimore netted $47.3 million worth of counterfeit luxury goods, the largest seizure at a flea market in the United States, federal authorities announced Thursday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations also confiscated $1.5 million in cash, which it described as "suspected criminal proceeds. " Federal officials released new details of the April 22 raid on the bazaar, where authorities say vendors sold counterfeit and pirated goods with the market owner's knowledge.

Imean Shaheed was working last Sunday when federal agents rushed into the Patapsco Flea Market, announced over the loudspeaker that the bazaar was closed for business and shut down vendors selling knockoff Nikes, Louis Vuitton bags and Tiffany & Co. jewelry. "It was like the movies," the 20-year-old Shaheed said Saturday after the Cherry Hill flea market re-opened. Some booths were empty, but the parking lot was full and customers flocked to vendors such as Shaheed who were open for business.

Raid your wine cellar, corkage is coming. The governor signed corkage into law on Tuesday. The new law, which takes effect on July 1, will allow Maryland diners to bring their own wine into licensed establishments. Previously, corkage has been allowed only in unlicensed, or BYOB, establishments. A corkage bill died in the assembly last year, when the practice, which is already permitted in at least 25 other states, would have been introduced in only a handful of counties.

When police burst into a city transportation building last March and arrested nearly a dozen workers who they said were throwing dice and drinking cheap liquor, the raid grabbed headlines and triggered stern warnings from officials about "violations of the public trust. " But nearly a year later, the case has ended with prosecutors convicting just one person and dropping charges against all the others. Seven workers whose criminal cases were not pursued have returned to their old jobs.

The investigation of a Baltimore homicide detective, accused of conducting an unauthorized search at an apartment while looking for his missing teenage daughter, has broadened as authorities seek to determine whether other law enforcement resources were used to aid the search. According to law enforcement sources, city investigators are trying to determine whether officers improperly used phone-tracking technology to help find Detective Daniel T. Nicholson IV's 15-year-old daughter, who ran away from home Friday.

Vendors at the Patapsco Flea Market have a history of allegedly selling counterfeit and pirated merchandise, according to an affidavit, which outlined the latest accusation that resulted in a raid Sunday by federal Homeland Security Investigations special agents. Capping a 2 1/2-year-long investigation into counterfeit apparel and accessories as well as pirated DVDs and musical recordings, federal investigators confiscated numerous items being sold there. Federal authorities released few details about the raid, but the affidavit details several undercover operations that found that many of the items sold at the flea market were fake.