Pubdate: Mon, 03 Nov 2003
Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
Copyright: 2003 Ledger-Enquirer
Contact:  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237
Author: Kevin G. Hall /Knight Ridder Newspapers

SMUGGLERS OPEN NEW ROUTES FOR TRAFFICKING HEROIN

MEXICO CITY - After several years of intense focus on Mexico, U.S. drug 
officials are turning their attention to Central America and South America, 
where traffickers have developed new transit points for smuggling Colombian 
white heroin into the United States.

Heroin consumption and overdoses are rising in the United States, partly as 
a consequence of the diversified smuggling routes. With purity levels as 
high as 90 percent, Colombian white heroin is highly addictive and 
increasingly seen as chic. Sold as a bitter-tasting white powder, it is 
widely available in forms that can be smoked or snorted, taking away the 
stigma of injecting heroin with needles.

Traditionally, Colombian white heroin moved through Miami, New York and 
Puerto Rico, but smugglers began moving it via Mexico in the late 1990s, 
often following the same routes as cocaine across the porous border into 
the United States.

Central American countries such as Panama and Nicaragua are popular staging 
points for delivering the highly refined Colombian heroin to Mexico or 
directly into the United States via passengers on cruise ships or 
airliners, or as packets hidden in cargo shipments.

Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed U.S. concern to Panama's 
president, Mireya Moscoso, during Powell's largely ceremonial five-hour 
stop Monday in Panama City. The issue of drug trans-shipments also was 
expected to come up during his visits to Nicaragua and Honduras later 
Monday and Tuesday.

A U.S. official involved in the drug war in Mexico, speaking on condition 
of anonymity, said the amount of white heroin moving through Mexico for 
delivery in the United States had more than tripled in the last two or 
three years.

"We can confirm this trend," said William Ostick, a spokesman for the U.S. 
Embassy in Panama. "We are getting excellent cooperation from Panamanian 
authorities."

Recent seizures of heroin in Panama have been at airport checkpoints, in 
high-speed boats and in ocean containers used to ship cargo. One arrest 
netted not only heroin but also the sewing machine that had been used to 
sew the drugs into the linings of apparel so drug runners could carry them 
on airplanes undetected.

One drug-sewing suspect became known as "the tailor of Panama" in a joking 
reference to a recent John Le Carre novel and Hollywood film of that title.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported seizures of 3,321.3 
pounds of heroin in Mexico City and Central America in fiscal year 2002 
during operations in which it played some role. Heroin seizures within U.S. 
borders grew from 817.9 pounds in 1998 to 1,554.3 pounds in 2002.

"As Colombian heroin-purity levels have skyrocketed and the price of heroin 
has decreased, DEA has reorganized and dedicated new enforcement resources 
at the domestic and international level to address this ever-changing 
problem," DEA Chief of Operations Rogelio Guevara said in testimony before 
the House Government Reform Committee last December.

Increased enforcement has led Colombian traffickers to use countries as far 
away as Argentina in attempts to reach the U.S. market. On July 25, the DEA 
announced that Argentina had agreed to extradite four nationals for trial 
in the United States on heroin trafficking charges. The four allegedly 
brought Colombian heroin into Argentina, then hid it in clothing in 
suitcases on commercial flights to the United States.

According to drug authorities, fighting heroin traffickers is harder than 
going after the cocaine cartels, whose leaders and gangs are generally 
well-known and like to spend lavishly.

"Typically, cocaine tends to be organized," said the U.S. official in 
Mexico. When it comes to heroin, the official continued, "people tend to 
work in smaller groups that are more closely knit. . They are harder to 
detect and combat."

Drug authorities think small Mexican gangs are stepping into the trade more 
boldly, taking charge of the drug in Colombia. Many of the heroin smugglers 
caught in countries neighboring Colombia, such as Panama and Ecuador, are 
Mexican nationals.

The DEA reports that the number of U.S. heroin addicts grew from 30,000 in 
1992 to 977,000 last year. The agency estimates that another 514,000 
Americans use heroin occasionally.

U.S. emergency rooms also report growing heroin use. In 1999, according to 
the DEA, there were 82,192 emergency room reports of heroin-related 
problems; the number grew to 93,064 in 2001, the last year for which 
statistics are available.

In the DEA's 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 3.1 million 
Americans said they had tried heroin at least once. That's about 1 percent 
of the population.

On the streets of Los Angeles, Colombian white heroin sells for $75,000 to 
$150,000 a kilogram, according to the DEA. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom