PHILADELPHIA EARNS DUBIOUS DISTINCTION: THE CITY IS TOPS IN CHEAP,
QUALITY HEROIN

PHILADELPHIA -- Cheap prices and a steady supply of quality heroin
brings buyers from throughout Pennsylvania and neighboring states to
North Philadelphia, according to a statewide grand jury report
released Tuesday.

In fact, the city is the source of most heroin distributed in the
state, said Attorney General Mike Fisher, standing on a North
Philadelphia block where trash-strewn vacant lots next to
graffiti-scrawled buildings served as the marketplace for a $1.5
million drug ring.

Authorities say the drug -- infamous in the 1960s and '70s -- has
shown a resurgence because higher purity allows new users to snort the
drug rather than inject it, eliminating one of the initial barriers to
use.

For the last two or three years, users and dealers have come from as
far away as Greene and Blair counties in western Pennsylvania and
Lackawanna and Luzerne counties in the northeast, Fisher said.

Dealers can quadruple their profits by buying the drug on Philadelphia
streets and selling it in their rural areas, Fisher said. Some users
would drive home high on some of the drug they had just purchased, he
said.

"Quite frankly, I was sickened to realize the number of young people
who got in their car, drove 200 to 250 miles, spent their money --
bought poison -- went back and sold it for a profit, and some of them
died," Fisher said.

One of the casualties was Adam Fowler, 18, of Cambria County, whose
mother found him dead on the floor of his bedroom after he overdosed
on heroin bought in Philadelphia. He had driven with friends to
Philadelphia to buy the drug.

"I was sure when my children were faced with the decision whether to
use or not use drugs, that they would make the right decision,"
Deborah Fowler said. "I was wrong."

How much of the heroin consumed in Lehigh County comes from
Philadelphia is unknown, said Lt. Glenn Granitz, who heads the vice
unit and intelligence of the Allentown Police Department.

"It comes from a plethora of places,'' Granitz said. "It comes from
New York. It comes from Philadelphia. It comes from all over.''

The heroin seized in Allentown is "very, very seldom'' tested for
purity, Granitz said. The state crime labs determines the weight and
identity of the substances submitted for analysis, not the purity,
which takes more time and money, he said.

As a result, Granitz said, city police do not know if the heroin is of
higher or lower purity and cannot tell if the drugs are coming from
Philadelphia or New York City.

"It really comes from different sources,'' Granitz said. "There is not
a main source.''

While there has been an increase in heroin use over the years, it has
not knocked cocaine and crack out of first place as the drug of choice
locally, Granitz said.

In December 1999, authorities brought down the operation on N. Hope
Street, just off one of North Philadelphia's main arteries, and
arrested 18 people. Two leaders were later sentenced to nine to 18
years in prison and six others were sentenced on Friday to terms
ranging from one and one-half to eight years.

Drug overdoses and reports from hospitals and treatment centers
indicate usage has increased at least fourfold in the last decade,
Fisher said.

The grand jury recommended mandatory jail time for a second
heroin-dealing conviction, regardless of the amount, along with more
drug education programs. Fisher also said treatment programs should be
a condition of parole and probation.

The report also went into detail about the sophisticated structure of
the drug rings, headed by suppliers who buy kilos of heroin and pay
"rent" money to people who control street corners. They, in turn, hire
"caseworkers" to manage the daily operation. Those managers hire
street-level sellers, lookouts, and "runners" to smuggle the drugs.

Suppliers could make a $150,000 profit on one kilogram, Fisher said.
Conversely, buyers who had to pay $40 a packet for heroin in counties
across the state could buy a packet of heroin in Philadelphia for as
little as $10, he said.

Heroin dealers try to develop brand loyalty for each corner's product
like any other business with catchy names. "I'll Be Back," from an
Arnold Schwarzeneggear movie, was a brand popular among Luzerne county
buyers in 1998.

"If you liked 'White House' heroin, you would be looking for someone
who was selling 'White House' heroin," Fisher said. The grand jury
identified 150 to 200 different stamps or markings on heroin packages.

Authorities showed off a battered red Toyota Corolla used to smuggle
drugs through a hiding place above the glove compartment, which was
opened by a small magnet waved over the dash. Otherwise, the glove
compartment opened normally.

Kioami Castillo, 20, who recently moved to a better area, said the
Hope Street area has been cleaned up, but she is worried about nearby
neighborhoods awash in guns and drugs.

"What's going to happen with the other streets?" she asked, leaning on
the stroller of her 1-year-old son, Jordan. "There's a lot of babies
coming up in this world ... It gets me very angry."

Staff writer Joe McDonald contributed to this report.