PINELLAS CRACKS DOWN AS HEROIN USE JUMPS

ST. PETERSBURG - Christine Christensen, a recovering crack addict, had
promised her sisters she never would resort to heroin.

A cousin had done that, and he ended up dead on the floor of a public
bathroom in New York City, his heart exploded by an air bubble he injected
with a syringe.

But on May 10, Christensen, 39, was found dead, one leg of her bluejeans
rolled up to the knee. A diary revealed she had overdosed on heroin four
times before. An autopsy removed all doubt.

In retrospect, Christensen's sisters say they believe she probably had
started using the drug at the end of 2001 or the beginning of 2002. Perhaps
not coincidentally, that is roughly the same time law enforcement officials
in Pinellas County, and especially St. Petersburg, saw the genesis of a
heroin problem that since has escalated.

Consider:

* Sixty-one people died from heroin toxicity in Pinellas from January 2001
to the end of 2003 - nearly 40 percent more deaths than were recorded in
Hillsborough County during the same three-year period, according to the
counties' medical examiner's offices.

* St. Petersburg police last year seized three times as much heroin as they
did the previous year.

* Countywide, individual heroin submissions for laboratory analysis - each
one the basis of a criminal case after dealers or users are caught - grew
tenfold from 2002 to 2003, according to data from the Pinellas County
forensic laboratory.

Hillsborough, in contrast, has experienced a 10 percent increase in the
number of heroin submissions, according to the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, which analyzes drug samples for that county.

* The number of heroin addicts seeking treatment at Operation PAR, a drug
treatment program with a methadone clinic in Pinellas, more than doubled
from 2000 through the end of 2003.

"St. Petersburg is a location where they find an easy sale, and they're
taking advantage of it," said Maj. John Gardner, head of the St. Petersburg
Police Department's vice and narcotics unit. "They're not even getting out
of the parking lot before wanting to shoot it up."

In January, Gardner's detectives, working with the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration, rounded up members of a St. Petersburg ring they believe to
be responsible for much of the heroin sold in the city.

The ring was so well-supplied, and so quick to feed their customers'
addictions, that a confidential informant once was able to buy $3,300 worth
of the drug almost on the spot, court documents show.

That's enough for some heroin addicts to attain a fleeting state of
euphoria, day in and day out, for a year.

The Functional Addict

In the drug's heyday in the 1970s, a heroin addict often was portrayed as a
gaunt, hip, small-time criminal with tracks lacing his arms.

Now he or she is just as likely to have a full-time job, as did Christine
Christensen, who worked as a telemarketer and legal secretary.

Users might be snorting or smoking the drug, rather than injecting it, in
the mistaken belief the alternative method won't lead to addiction.

Addictions to opiates are just as likely to be satisfied by painkillers
such as OxyContin and Percocet as they are with heroin, said Gary Wenner,
vice president for narcotic addiction treatment services at Operation PAR.

The typical addict is a white man between 18 and 25, who might be oblivious
to the heroin epidemic of three decades ago that ravaged cities such as New
York, said Marc H. Kleinman, director of clinical services for Operation
PAR's treatment services.

But a review of St. Petersburg police reports shows there are other types
of users - such as Christensen, a 50- year-old Hispanic father found
unconscious by his two sons, and a 36-year-old black man who said he had
been snorting the drug daily since he was 18.

Addicts interviewed by police say they used heroin after a relationship
broke up, when a family member died, because they missed relatives during
the holidays, or because they just had to.

A 31-year-old Seminole man told investigators he had two open-heart
surgeries and needed something stronger than aspirin for the pain.

His wife had left him and their children, he said. He was pawning what few
possessions his family had - including a child's Game Boy - to support his
habit.

Stumbling Upon A Trend

The Seminole man was stopped last year during a special St. Petersburg
police operation, put into effect after an uninvolved woman carrying a loaf
of bread was shot during a five-day drive-by shooting spree.

A review of police reports shows that officers used minor violations - a
burned-out headlight, for instance - to pull over motorists in south St.
Petersburg to see whether they possessed drugs or guns.

Officers found weapons and substantial quantities of cocaine, by far the
most common illegal drug in Pinellas County.

Undercover patrol officers also found an inordinate number of people who
did not live in the immediate area driving there to buy heroin, the reports
show.

In many cases, the motorists had bought $20 to $30 plastic bags of heroin,
with each bag lasting one or two days. Syringes and spoons often were
visible on seats of the cars.

The traffic stops are responsible for some of the increase in heroin cases
St. Petersburg police handled last year, compared with 2002. Cases handled
by the department's undercover vice and narcotics officers make up the rest.

All told, St. Petersburg police investigated 100 heroin-related cases last
year, compared with 33 in 2002.

Gardner said discussions among members of vice and narcotics agencies in
the area show other cities, including Tampa, are not experiencing the same
increase.

Some of the heroin buyers making their way to St. Petersburg not only are
coming from other Pinellas cities, including Seminole, Clearwater, Largo
and Pinellas Park. They're also coming from neighboring counties, Gardner said.

Cracking A Ring

Although some addicts were buying heroin in alleys, others were getting
theirs after calling a member of a network described in court papers as
"major suppliers of heroin in the St. Petersburg area," authorities said.

Charged with selling and delivering heroin earlier this year were Tony
Shaw, 21, Alexander Walker, 40, and Walker's wife, Juanita Roberson Walker,
49, police records show. All are from St. Petersburg.

The three are identified in affidavits and search warrants as major
suppliers of heroin in the city. The inner workings of what police say was
a tight-knit ring are further detailed in extensive transcripts of cell
phone conversations intercepted by police.

Angela Wiggins, 27, of Clearwater, also was arrested. On at least two
occasions, she hid heroin within her body while transporting it from Miami,
according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant a judge ordered
unsealed last month.

Kenneth Wayne Anderson, 41, of St. Petersburg, also has been arrested.
Anderson took a break from his job in the kitchen at Admiral Farragut
Academy, a private secondary school in St. Petersburg, and sold an
informant 7.1 grams of heroin in exchange for $3,300, the affidavit says.

Investigators filed charges against the five after amassing evidence gained
in the cell phone intercepts. They listened to conversations between the
dealers, and between dealers and their customers, who often gave little
notice when they needed to buy some heroin, court papers say.

"Henry," a customer, said during one of the conversations: "I've got a
dove, man, I need a sack." Dove is drug lingo for a piece of crack, and
Henry apparently wanted to supplement it with heroin, which is sold in bags.

"An analysis of the conversations intercepted and the physical surveillance
indicate that Shaw tries to be [discreet] during telephone conversations
and tries to get his contacts to use code words for the real purpose of the
conversations," the affidavit says.

"However, the contacts sound desperate and often forget to use the code
words despite prompting by Shaw," the affidavit says.