HEROIN ACTIVITY IN COUNTY RISES

BOULDER -- The Boulder County Drug Task Force is investigating an
increase in heroin-related activity that officers say is illustrated
by five fatal overdoses over the past five months.

The task force's chief, Sheriff's Cmdr. Steve Prentup, said a review
of Boulder police and county coroner's records for the period between
Oct. 1 and this past Wednesday showed:

Five heroin-related deaths: four in Boulder and one in Longmont.

Two heroin-related overdoses in which users were revived and treated
in Boulder.

Three Boulder police patrol arrests involving heroin use in public
restrooms in that city.

Sixteen heroin-related incidents or reports made to the Boulder
Police Department, including restaurant owners complaining that
people had been shooting up in their restrooms.

Prentup said that in the past, Boulder County law enforcement
authorities would come across only two to three overdose-death
reports a year, in locations scattered all over the county.

The Boulder County Drug Task Force has a team of detectives
investigating the apparent increased heroin presence in the county.

"It's common practice for heroin to be used almost as quickly as it
is purchased, making it difficult for law enforcement to identify and
apprehend offenders," Prentup said.

The task force said a combination of heroin and cocaine was found in
the systems of two of the five victims of the overdose deaths.
Heroin-cocaine "speedballs" dramatically increase the chances of
overdose and death, the task force said.

In the western United States, "black tar" heroin from Mexico is the
most common available form, with a higher purity level that can cause
overdoses in users accustomed to lower levels, police said.

Prentup said task force drug investigations previously came across
heroin about once a year over the last three years. He said Boulder
County users typically traveled to Denver to buy the drug.

Now, Prentup said, authorities are checking out reports that heroin
is being delivered directly to Boulder County.

On Tuesday, county commissioners approved letting the task force
apply for nearly $134,000 in federal drug-enforcement grants after
getting assurances from Sheriff Joe Pelle that the unit is focusing
on the distribution of "hard" drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine
and cocaine.

Law enforcement agencies participating in the Boulder County Drug
Task Force include the Boulder County Sheriff's Office; the Boulder
County District Attorney's Office; and the University of Colorado,
Louisville, Lafayette, Erie, Nederland and Boulder police
departments. Longmont has its own drug-enforcement unit.

The Boulder County Drug Task Force invites anyone with information
about heroin in Boulder County to call the task force at 303-441-1690
or Crimestoppers of Boulder County at 1-800-222-8477.