Book excerpt: Combating a growing drug trafficking industry that costs society over $30 billion annually can be a difficult and dangerous task. Not only are law enforcement officials faced with drug dealers who are becoming less reluctant to use deadly weapons against them, but they also have to keep up with the constant change in constitutional law. A trial-and-error approach to developing investigative skills can prove to be a costly approach for officials working in this war on drugs. Following the success of the best-selling first edition, Practical Drug Enforcement, Second Edition continues to offer law enforcement personnel from all jurisdictions a suitable guide for the general management of drug investigations and of drug enforcement units as a whole. This book offers an incisive look at the technical methods required to conduct successful drug investigations. It explores specific enforcement problems, such as marijuana cultivation, clandestine laboratories, crack houses, smuggling and prisons, ground smuggling, booby traps, search of vessels, and raid planning. This book covers the entire scope of drug enforcement from case initiation, to surveillance techniques, to special enforcement problems, to preparation for the courtroom. Practical Drug Enforcement, Second Edition will help law enforcement personnel stay up-to-date and maintain the edge over the drug dealers they are pursuing.