ADDED SECURITY DENTS DRUG TRADE

Crime Fears Mount With Low Supply, Soaring Cost

NOVI -- The increased focus on terrorists, mystery powders and
packages has put an economic squeeze on another industry -- the
illegal drug trade.

Narcotics officers say intense inspections at airports, bridges, the
Detroit-Windsor tunnel and international borders have disrupted drug
trafficking in Metro Detroit. Drug dealers have been hesitant to rely
on conventional delivery methods, resulting in a decrease in the
number of drug seizures at local border crossings and Detroit
Metropolitan Airport.

That in turn, has decreased the supply of illicit drugs and has
increased the price, by 30 percent or higher, law enforcement
officials said.

"Supply and demand," said Oakland County Lt. Joseph Quisenberry, who
heads a drug-task force of federal agents and local police. "Demand
is still there, but the supply is drying up. So costs go up."

Other authorities agree that demand for drugs like marijuana and
cocaine is still strong. And some worry that the shortage might lead
to more crime by users trying to raise additional money to pay for
drugs or that some users might switch to stronger drugs that are in
ample supply.

"The drug scene is ... going to get uglier," said Dr. Carl S. Taylor,
a criminologist at Michigan State University.

Authorities already have seen some trends:

* A drug addict told Taylor he was switching to heroin because that
drug was more available, Taylor said.

* Some drug dealers are trying to pass off cheaper substances as
drugs, according to the head of a drug task force in Macomb County.

* The purity of some cocaine in Oakland County has dropped from 70
percent to 50 percent, Quisenberry said.

* Undercover Wayne County officers say the purity of heroin has
dropped from 80 percent to 50 percent.

Yet Salvation Army Major Tom Tuppenney, whose organization operates
detoxification and substance abuse centers in Metro Detroit, said he
has heard nothing to indicate there has been any change in the price
or availability of street drugs.

"The supply is so vast, that I doubt we could discern any changes as
yet," he said.

Drug enforcement officers say they began noticing major increases in
drug prices after the September terrorist attacks, said Quisenberry,
who leads the Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET).
Enforcement team officers based their observations on about 100
street buys of cocaine and marijuana across Oakland County during the
past six weeks.

"Marijuana, which goes for about $1,000 a pound or $100 or more an
ounce, is now going for between $1,300 or $1,500 a pound and $130 an
ounce," Quisenberry said.

Officers have seen similar price increases for cocaine, which usually
sells on the street for $100, he said.

Wayne County Sheriff Robert Ficano said his undercover drug officers
have seen prices go up about 10 percent across the board, and heroin,
normally about 80 percent pure, is now at 50 percent.

In Macomb County, state police Lt. Charles Schumacher, said some drug
dealers are trying to stretch out their supply by diluting their
drugs with other substances.

"We've seen some street dealers trying to sell imitation drugs, soap
- -- even dirt," said Schumacher, who heads the COMET drug task force.
"Anything but crack cocaine.

"Now there is some increase in kitchen-counter drugs, like
pharmaceuticals, Ecstasy, even CAT, the animal tranquilizer,"
Schumacher said. "But that's also an indication drugs of choice --
marijuana and cocaine -- just aren't to be found in large quantities."

Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer, whose department has
combined with police in Novi, West Bloomfield and sheriff's deputies
to form the South Oakland Narcotics Intelligence Consortium, is
braced for the worst.

"It probably will affect street crimes -- retail fraud, robberies,
break-ins" Dwyer said. "All will likely go up as drug users seek more
money to buy their drugs."