We were on surveillance following a money courier around the city. The target had just left his home and was heading for Chicago. We decided to conduct a sneak and peek warrant on his residence. I was told that I needed to get into the house and not leave a trace that the police was ever there. I was told to grab my lock pick set and find a way into the house. I chose the rear door for entry to avoid the neighbors from thinking I was a burglar for there was a lot of foot traffic in the area.
Once inside the house we found several locked rooms with the typical inside room door locks. One room contained over 200 lbs of marijuana. After documenting the evidence found in the residence, we locked up all the rooms and house. The next day we had to go back into the house, this time with a regular search warrant, and I needed picked the same locks all over again. I did get plenty of locking picking practice on this house. I’m not sure what we would have done if I have not had the ability to pick locks.
-Christine R.
