Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jul 2005
Source: State Journal, The (WV)
Copyright: 2005 The State Journal
Contact:  http://www.statejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2745
Author: Chris Stirewalt
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

IMPORTING DRUGS,EXPORTING GUNS

Police officers say West Virginia is a great place for crooks to do
business. And they worry the murders of four teenagers may just be the
beginning.

Law-abiding West Virginians may struggle to lure employers here, but
for out-of-state dope pushers and gun runners, our state is a great
place to do business.

Every day, in every city in West Virginia, we're importing and
exporting danger. The people on the front lines say if this keeps up,
the murders of four teenagers in Huntington could be just the beginning.

The May 22 crime was so brutal and senseless that few of us could
imagine it happened in West Virginia. Four teenagers were gunned down.
Police believe drugs were the reason, and three of the victims likely
were killed just for seeing too much.

Police believe it was just the most recent chapter in a long, violent
relationship between West Virginia and the major cities of the Midwest
and Northeast. But Ike McKinnon, former Detroit police chief, is
worried that these murders are an ominous sign of worse things to come
for West Virginia.

"I guess I want to frighten people, because I know what can happen,"
McKinnon said. "And I know in the terms of the value of human life and
you know by your report. It's a frightening thing. You don't want that
to occur."

In more than 30 years on the force, McKinnon saw the drug trade spawn
brutal street gangs whose teenage foot soldiers would kill or be
killed over crack.

McKinnon took us into the heart of Detroit's gangland, where the value
of life is measured in grams and dollars.

There were almost 400 murders in the city of Detroit last year alone,
mostly drug related. That same ruthless lifestyle is coming to West
Virginia, as maxed-out drug markets in big cities push dealers into
new areas. Cabell County Chief Deputy Jim Scheidler said West Virginia
has become a prime target because demand is hitting an all time high,
while supply remains low.

Scheidler displayed small amounts of crack cocaine. "This here would
be about $5 on the streets in Detroit," he said. "That same rock in
Huntington would bring $15-$20. This right here on the streets in
Detroit is about $50, this is about $175-$200 here on the streets of
Huntington."

Crack may be illegal, but it's still governed by the same laws of
economics that control everything else. In places like Roosevelt Park
in Detroit, the supply of crack was so great that the price fell. That
meant enterprising young drug dealers who wanted to make big money had
to find new markets. That meant going to places like West Virginia.

There were lots of reasons why West Virginia was such an attractive
destination. But Joe Ciccarelli, the FBI's special agent in charge in
West Virginia, thinks it may also be the old ties from the thousands
of West Virginians who went north to look for work a generation or two
ago.

"You still have familiar ties back to this community," Ciccarelli
said. "Or at the very least you have people who were living in Detroit
who could talk about, 'Well, jeez, grandma and grandpa used to live in
Huntington, West Virginia or Charleston, West Virginia.'" But there
was another key reason West Virginia was such an attractive place to
come. More than just an untapped market for crack, we also have a huge
number of guns and gun dealers. As we found out, that made West
Virginia too attractive to leave alone.

As we explored the connection between guns and drugs we discovered
that for all the problems big cities were bringing to us, we were
returning the favor with illegal guns. As one out-of-state law
enforcement officer said, West Virginia has become a firearms
supermarket for thugs.

It's a trend that has state and federal officials desperate for
solutions.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin