Here's an interesting piece...a heroin network gets rolled up. The article states the captives are affiliates with the Mexican drug cartels, but look at the names...
Posted on Fri, Oct. 08, 2010
Heroin cartel targeted
Dealers linked to Mexico operated 3 cells across S.C.
By NOELLE PHILLIPSnophillips@thestate.com
The junkie would call a drug dealer’s dispatcher and place an order for heroin.
A meeting time and place — often a very busy and public location — would be set for the heroin user to meet a courier. The courier would lead the user to a second, more remote location. Then the deal would be made.
That’s the business model of a Mexican heroin cartel that had been operating in South Carolina for more than a year, said State Law Enforcement Division Director Reggie Lloyd. This week, 21 alleged members of the heroin ring were indicted by a state grand jury, and 18 of them are behind bars as a result of SLED’s “Operation Black Poppy.”
“This case strikes a blow to the Mexican drug traffickers,” said William Douglas, special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s S.C. district office.
The cartel allegedly distributed more than 30 kilograms of heroin in South Carolina, and Lloyd said the street value was estimated at $5.5 million.
The cartel, which had cells in the Midlands, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, is one more sign that Mexican drug dealers are moving into South Carolina. And it’s evidence that heroin is on the rise in South Carolina despite its dangers, Lloyd said. Heroin dealt by this cartel has been linked to six deaths caused by a drug overdose, he said.
But law enforcement officials who combat drug trafficking believe the bust put a dent in heroin deals in the state.
The drugs were shipped into the state through various means, including via the mail or carried by people called “mules,” said Roger Heaton, SLED’s assistant director for special operations. In one case, police found baseball-sized packages of heroin wrapped in black duct tape and stuffed inside industrial grease tubes in the trunk of a car.
The heroin was packaged for consumers in balloons in bright orange, blue, yellow and green and sold in amounts of one-tenth of gram, which costs $100 on the street, Heaton said.
Heavy users would need more than one-tenth to feel the effects, and addicts typically use heroin twice a day. So deals mostly were made in the morning and the early evening, Lloyd said.
The high price of heroin and frequent need by addicts leads them to break into homes and cars to steal or to rob businesses, Heaton said. And drug operations lead to violence as dealers battle over territory.
Tips about the heroin dealers first came to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department in September 2009. Investigators then learned in March about a cell in Myrtle Beach after the 12th Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit busted a deal. The Charleston cell was discovered after Charleston and Mount Pleasant police departments began investigating 12 overdose cases, including six that resulted in deaths, that took place between March and June, Lloyd said.
On Monday, drug agents raided several homes in Columbia and Lexington at dawn and arrested several people linked to the cartel.
In January, SLED and other local police agencies raided two homes in Richland County, where they confiscated 2,000 pounds of marijuana, a kilo of cocaine and more than $1 million in cash. Police linked that raid to a separate Mexican drug cartel.
“The Hispanic drug traffickers are becoming the No. 1 enemy for law enforcement in this state,” Heaton said.
Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307.
© 2010 TheState.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thestate.com/
Here's what stands out...the names...Americans colluding with cartels....
Heroin cartel arrests
The S.C. State Grand Jury indicted 21 people for their roles in an alleged heroin-distribution ring that has ties to Mexico, according the S.C. attorney general’s office. Those charged with conspiracy to traffic heroin are:
Ian Matthew Craven, 22, of Columbia
Wendy Annette Craig, 37, of Columbia
Edgar Allan Craig, 29, of Columbia
Michael Byrd, 25, of Columbia
Bobby B. Burroughs, 31, of West Columbia
William Christopher Brown, 34, of Chapin
Barbara Brettenbach, 27, of Lexington
Brainen Jason Borchers, 31, of North
Juan Rodolpho Arroyo, 27
Joshua Lee Griffin, 29, of Columbia
Francisco Guerrero-Flores, 31
Manuel Hernandez-Robles, 25
Jose Juan Garcia-Rejies, 36
Larry Allen Hourihan, 43, of Gaston
Lisa Amanda Londono, 34, of Columbia
Alfredo Perez Perez, 24
Peter Turanec, 27, of Columbia
Jeremy Lewis Gray, 37, of West Columbia
James Adam Gleaton, 24, of Gaston
Gadiel Garcia de Dios, 33
Also, the following three people were arrested Monday by SLED during a raid connected to “Operation Black Poppy.” They, too, have been charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine: Anselmo Villalobos-Alcala, Jorge Louis Guitterez-Iberria and Noel Adan Verdin-Aldama.
Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2010/10/08/1502373/heroin-cartel-targeted.html#ixzz11jlpbp3C
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