Pubdate: Fri, 18 Oct 2013
Source: Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, IL)
Copyright: 2013 Daily Chronicle
Contact: http://www.daily-chronicle.com/forms/letters/
Website: http://www.daily-chronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3685

FIGHT AGAINST DRUG DEALING

We don't want DeKalb to become a destination for people looking to 
score illegal narcotics.

As reported in Tuesday's Daily Chronicle, police officials say that 
is becoming a growing trend.

"Customers don't have to leave town as much as they used to," DeKalb 
police Cmdr. John Petragallo said. "We're having people from more 
rural towns come into DeKalb now to purchase their drugs. To someone 
from a very small place, we're a place to go."

DeKalb police are trying to change that perception. But the problem 
appears to be growing at the moment.

Heroin is becoming more prevalent in the city, police officials say, 
as is "molly," a powdered form of MDMA, known on the street as 
ecstasy. In September, police said they found 22 kilograms of cocaine 
that two Arizona men had with them when they landed at DeKalb Taylor 
Municipal Airport.

Heroin's addictive and life-destroying effect on users is well-known. 
Now there is even a copycat substance known as "krokodil" or 
crocodile, which infects and eats away the flesh of users who believe 
they are injecting heroin.

Aside from the dangers these drugs pose to their users, attracting 
more drug users and addicts to town increases the risk of property 
and other crimes, beyond the drug transactions they come to execute.

Meanwhile, although "molly" is thought to be a harmless party drug, 
it can be cut with any other kind of powdered substance, detergent or 
baking soda or something more harmful - the end user has no way of knowing.

DeKalb police are taking a good approach in targeting not just 
street-level dealers, but smugglers from outside the community who 
are supplying them. Such people often have street gang or other 
organized crime affiliations. Under the leadership of Chief Gene 
Lowery, police have formed a Targeted Response Unit, with four 
officers focusing on specific illegal activities including drug trafficking.

The idea is to improve police information-gathering capabilities and 
intercept more shipments of illegal drugs intended for our 
communities. Our hope is that they will succeed and higher-level 
distributors will decide that sending large quantities of narcotics 
to DeKalb is not worth the risk to their bankroll or their freedom.

Most people in the community - including at Northern Illinois 
University - do not use illegal drugs. However, there are some who 
do, and it would be naive to think that will change in the foreseeable future.

But there's a difference between having demand for recreational drugs 
and being a destination for addicts who need a fix. Those are 
visitors our community does not need, and we hope the police will be 
successful in their efforts to send a chill through the local drug market.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom