Combined Anti-Drug Team (C.A.T.) Narcotics Task Force

The Combined Anti-Drug Team (C.A.T.) Narcotics Task Force was formed on November 22, 2004 and is a joint effort between the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lake Charles Police Department, Westlake Police Department, DeQuincy Police Department, Vinton Police Department, Iowa Police Department, the United States Marshal’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

The purpose of the C.A.T. Task Force is to combine all agencies within the Calcasieu Parish area to form a single unit to identify, target, and dismantle illegal drug and gang organizations.

The unit is divided into three separate functions:

  1. Criminal Patrol of the I-10 corridor
  2. Street Interdiction that works street level narcotics
  3. Long-term investigations that identify and investigate drug conspiracy enterprises as well as organized gang activity

On July 1, 2006, in order to maximize the effectiveness of the C.A.T. detectives, the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office assigned a full time felony prosecutor to the C.A.T. team. The Assistant District Attorney’s responsibility is, first and foremost, aggressive trial prosecution. However, this prosecutor also works with task force detectives in an advisory role assisting with investigative case management, continuing education for the task force detectives, and on-call duties for C.A.T. cases.