SHERIFF HOPES ARRESTS DENT DRUG TRADE

Problem 'Out Of Control,' He Says

Saying the parish has a "methadone problem that is out of control,"
St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens said Wednesday he hopes the
arrest of 12 people and confiscation of more than 200 methadone
tablets this week will put a dent in the illegal distribution of the
prescription drug, which can be deadly when taken with other drugs.

More than 700 doses of prescription drugs worth about $6,800,
including methadone, Xanbar, Vicodin and Percocet, were seized from a
bedroom safe in a Chalmette home where four people were arrested
Monday night, authorities said. Three of the people in the house,
along with a fourth person arrested elsewhere Monday night, have been
booked with possession with intent to distribute the pills.

Five others connected to the case also were arrested Monday night, and
two others were arrested Tuesday, authorities said.

"We think these arrests will go a long way in fighting methadone
distribution" in St. Bernard Parish, Stephens said Wednesday at a news
conference.

Authorities said it was the largest seizure of illegal methadone the
Sheriff's Office has made in one investigation.

Sheriff's officials said there have been at least 21 drug overdose
deaths in St. Bernard this year, nearly all of them from prescription
medication.

Officials believe many of the people who died purchased drugs from
people who were reselling drugs they obtained with valid doctors'
prescriptions, including many prescriptions for methadone.

There also have been more than 60 other suspected overdoses this year
in which the victims lived, officials said.

In November, parish Coroner Bryan Bertucci said he knew of 28
confirmed drug overdose deaths and 11 suspected overdose deaths in St.
Bernard in 2002. Bertucci said methadone, often mixed with the
prescription drug Xanbar, appeared to be the leading cause of those
overdose deaths.

Methadone, traditionally used to wean addicts from heroin, sells for
about $25 per tablet on the street and is a powerful and addictive
pain reliever.

Bertucci said some doctors, apparently spooked by the widespread abuse
of the pain reliever Oxycontin after it was introduced several years,
began writing prescriptions for methadone instead.

Some patients, in turn, sell their prescription methadone pills to
others who mistakenly or foolishly mix it with other drugs, Bertucci
said.

Authorities said they can't establish a link between the arrests and
seizure of drugs to any particular overdose deaths.

St. Bernard Parish sheriff's deputies served a search warrant at 8534
Valor Drive on Monday night and recovered several bottles of
prescription pills in the safe, authorities said. Dean Long Jr., 42,
and his son, Dean Long III, 18, both of 8534 Valor Drive, and Mary
King, 17, of Kenner, a niece of Dean Long Jr., were in the home when a
search warrant was served.

The three, along with Patrick Hallal, 43, 1637 Heights Drive, St.
Bernard community, who was arrested elsewhere Monday night, were
booked with possession with intent to distribute 206 units of
methadone, 227 units of Xanbar, 153 units of Lorcet, 79 units of
Loratab, 49 units of Vicodin, 11 units of Darvocet, nine units of
Tylenol III and five units of Percocet. The other drugs are generally
worth about $5 each on the street, authorities said.

All are being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison. Bond for Dean Long
Jr. was set at $100,000. There wasn't any information on the others'
bonds.

Rebecca Nunez, 31, of Slidell, who was also present in the home, was
booked with possession of less than a quarter-ounce of marijuana,
estimated value of $30, and possession of 15 Xanbar tablets and 5
Lorcet tablets, worth $5 each. Hallal also was booked with possession
of 2.5 grams of cocaine.

Long also had seven firearms in the home, as well as a ski mask, and
was booked with possession of the weapons in the commission of a
crime. Authorities are trying to determine where the guns came from.

Sheriff's officials said that a son of Hallal's, whom they identified
as Patrick LeBouef, 21, of St. Bernard Parish, died last November
after overdosing on a variety of prescription pills, including
hydrocodone, Valium, Xanax and Soma.

Prescription bottles in the Long home showed the prescriptions had
been issued in both Long's and Hallal's names, officials said. It
appeared the pair had gone to various doctors to obtain prescriptions,
which they filled at pharmacies in other parishes.

Stephens said finding the guns in the home reflects another trend in
St. Bernard -- drug dealers using firearms.

The sheriff also noted that people from other parishes were among
those arrested Monday night and Tuesday as a spinoff of the Long
investigation. He said that two Jefferson Parish men were arrested
Tuesday after one of them called Long's house Monday night while
deputies were there and unknowingly negotiated with a deputy to buy 50
tablets of methadone.