NEDERLAND — To say that Gary Porter has had an interesting career in law enforcement would be an understatement.

And the journey continues.

The newly appointed assistant police chief in Nederland sat back in his chair and smiled as he described his 15 years with the now defunct Jefferson County Narcotics. Task Force. The Nederland native once traveled up and down the Gulf Coast busting major drug rings as part of a highway drug interdiction from the Golden Triangle area to New Orleans to Florida.

He described two of his most interesting cases.

One case began with the drug bust of a person with a “bag of marijuana” in Nederland that was followed by the bust of a person in Beaumont who was caught with a quarter pound of marijuana. This led Porter to a family in Vidor who were found with 15 to 20 pounds of marijuana. Their home was the stop off place for smuggling up and down the interstate.

“The (Vidor) couple were in the 70s,” he added with a smile.

Another case started with a simple traffic stop in which Porter noticed the suspect had $150,000 in cash stuffed in cardboard cola containers. This led to a trucking company in Florida and later to drugs in Lake Charles and the end of a major drug smuggling operation.

Porter, who admits to being a practical joker, occasionally gets ribbed for saying there was a “ka-jillion dollars” in the container.

“It was an embarrassing moment,” he said. “It was even in the headlines in a Lake Charles newspaper.”

All joking aside, Porter enjoys his job in the town he was born and raised.

“Most of the time we have a good time here but when it’s serious, it’s serious,” he said.

As far back as Porter can remember he has always wanted to be a police officer. As a senior in high school he met then police chief, Billy Neal, during a career day event. He told Neal his aspirations and Neal gave him a bit of advise, “don’t get into trouble and I’ll hire you when you graduate.”

Upon graduation Porter went to the Griffing Park Police Department and attended the academy. He later worked in Central Dispatch at Nederland Police Department where he spent about a year then in 1979 moved to Port Neches Police Department where he worked patrol through 1981.

He was rehired back with NPD where he served as patrol sergeant and lieutenant, working his way up to his new position.

Chief Darrell Bush said the decision to choose Porter as assistant chief was easy, first quoting Porter’s career accomplishments, then speaking more personally.

“His experience, along with his good judgment and people skills are what led me to choose him,” Bush said. “He works very well with the public and staff and was the logical choice. I look forward to working with him.”

The bare walls of Porter’s new office will likely be furnished with items related to his hobbies. Porter, along with most of the officers at NPD, fish and hunt in their downtime. He also likes to run and go boating, he said.

The assistant chief is proud to be a part of NPD as he looks to the future.

“It’s been fun,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better job in a better place.”