'BAD DRUG ON THE STREETS'

15 People Die In County Of Suspected Overdoses

Fifteen people, perhaps a record, died during the weekend in Harris County
from suspected overdoses of a mysterious drug, which appears to be a
mixture of heroin and cocaine, the Medical Examiner's Office said Monday.

Most of the deaths occurred within ZIP codes 77093 and 77039 in northeast
Houston, an area roughly bordered by the Hardy Toll Road, Crosstimbers,
Eastex Freeway and Aldine Bender.

"We're concerned there is a bad drug on the streets in Harris County," said
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joye Carter. "If you have a drug habit, this
could very well be your fatal dose."

The substance may be a brown powder or liquid. Victims, mostly Hispanic
males, ranged from a 16-year-old girl to a 46-year-old man.

The onset of symptoms is minor -- no convulsive activity is reported. Users
simply complain they feel ill and go to sleep, but don't wake up.

Four people died Saturday, and 11 on Sunday -- far above the two or three
fatal overdoses in the county during an average weekend.

Carter and others say it is the most drug deaths they can recall locally
within a 48-hour period.

"I've been in the Houston office for over 10 years and haven't seen
anything like this," said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman
Robert Mansaw.

Houston Police Department's homicide division is investigating seven of the
deaths. Capt. Richard Holland said the cause of deaths cannot be
conclusively stated, but preliminary investigations suggest they were drug
overdoses. Quite a few of the victims, he said, were known drug users.

"Something has interjected itself into the situation that seems to have
made it extraordinarily dangerous."

By Monday night, test results indicated the drug was a mixture of heroin
and cocaine, said Dr. Ashraf Mozayani, laboratory director and chief
toxicologist at the Medical Examiner's Office.

They aren't sure if the victims injected the drug or perhaps snorted it.
"It's all the same outcome," Carter said.

A syringe containing a brown substance found on one victim contained a
mixture of heroin, cocaine and lidocaine, Mozayani said, while small bags
of a brown powder found on another person contained a mixture of cocaine
and heroin, commonly referred to as a "speedball."

Some items may be sent to the DEA laboratory in Washington for further testing.

"When you buy a street drug, you don't know what's in there," Carter said.
"You could have a pure form of heroin, you could have something as simple
as rat poison. We have to figure out what's in that drug."

Doctors also have noticed a far higher number of fatal cocaine overdoses in
the county this summer.

Nine people have died from cocaine overdoses this month, compared with five
for all of August 2000.

Last month, 31 fatal cocaine overdoses were reported, compared with two in
July 2000. There were 29 fatal cocaine overdoses in June, compared with
three in June last year.

Carter's office is working with Houston police, the Harris County Sheriff's
Department and the DEA to find out what the drug is and where it is coming
from.

Anyone with a drug-related medical emergency should immediately call 911,
said John Denison, communications director for Crisis Intervention of Houston.

But, he added, "If you know of somebody who's doing this and don't know
quite where to turn, call us," referring to the 24-hour, confidential,
anonymous Drug Crisis hotline at 713-HOTLINE.

Roberto Mello, one of the victims, went to bed as normal Friday night after
taking a shower. His mother found him dead Saturday afternoon.

"He said he was going to take a shower because he had to go to work at 7,"
said Elvira Mello. When she finally realized something was wrong, she
checked on him, but he had died in bed.

"There was no life in him," Elvira Mello said in Spanish. He had foam in
his mouth "as if he had been poisoned."

Mello had been out the night before with another victim, George Escobar,
according to both families. The two worked in construction together.

"They went out drinking together," said Elvira Mello.

Mello, Escobar and three other victims listed by the medical examiner lived
in the same North Side neighborhood divided by Hopper. Neighbors say drug
dealing has become more common in the area in recent months.

"We've lived here seven years, and it has gotten worse just this summer,"
said A. Jimenez, a woman who wouldn't give her full first name. "We don't
even go out at night anymore."

But in one North Side case, the medical examiner must be making a mistake,
the family said. Teodoro Torres said his brother David had chronic kidney
failure and didn't touch cocaine.

"My brother didn't use no drugs. He was on dialysis."

David Torres was sick for a week, had seen two doctors and never went out
without his family's help.

"We always helped him," said Teodoro Torres. "We always knew where he was."

Possible overdose-related deaths in Houston since Saturday:

Nester Marin, 19, found 9:30 a.m. Saturday, 2700 block of Pine Tree,
residence, ZIP code 77093.

Roberto Mello, 39, found 2 p.m. Saturday, 2900 Havner, residence, ZIP code
77093.

Kimberly Klein, 33, found 6:04 a.m. Saturday, 1300 Dorothy, residence, ZIP
code 77008.

George Escobar, 46, found 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2800 Wardmont, residence, ZIP
code 77093.

Joseph E. Reed Jr., 34, found 2:14 a.m. Sunday, 1900 Margaret, residence,
ZIP code 77093.

Carlos Chavez, 24, found 9:30 a.m. Sunday, 8800 Manus, residence, ZIP code
77093.

Clifton Love, 22, found 10 a.m. Sunday, 4800 Holly Brook, residence, ZIP
code 77039.

Jennifer A. Rivera, 16, found 4:24 p.m. Sunday, 400 E. 16th Street, ZIP
code 77008.

Robert Luna, 23, found 1:17 p.m. Sunday, 100 Berry Road, ZIP code 77022.

Laura B. Vowels, 29, found 4 p.m. Sunday, 14200 Cypress Circle, ZIP code 77396.

David Torres, 39, found 1:22 p.m. Sunday, 2700 Mierianne, residence, ZIP
code 77093.

Sipriano Lopez, 35, found 1:43 p.m. Sunday, 13400 Firebrick, ZIP code 77041.

Jeffrey Thompson, 25, found 9:16 a.m. Sunday, 5000 Mohawk, friend's house,
ZIP code 77093.

Silvano Ocampo, 28, found 9:40 a.m. Sunday, 13900 S. Main, motel room, ZIP
code 77035.

Dorthy F. Moyes, 43, found 7:27 a.m. Sunday, 5000 Charriton, residence, ZIP
code 77039.