COCAINE HOME DELIVERY A PHONE CALL AWAY, PROSECUTORS SAY

YORK (AP) Upper-class professionals in prime Manhattan neighborhoods
benefited from a cocaine gang that delivered drugs to their doorsteps,
prosecutors said as charges were brought against 10 men.

What was dubbed the Home Delivery Cocaine Organization operated for the
last year, making up to $11,000 a day, prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said the case proves that cocaine distribution
and use destroys society, "especially when it becomes as easy to order as
pizza."

Marvin Smilon, a spokesman for Ms. White, said he could not comment on
whether prosecutors were pursuing the customers of the organization. But he
said the investigation is continuing.

The 10 men were accused of violating federal laws against conspiracy and
narcotics distribution, according to an indictment in U.S. District Court
in Manhattan.

The organization allegedly used beepers and cellular telephones for
communications with well-to-do clients whose names, telephone numbers and
addresses were kept on file.

The men indicted were accused of serving people in a myriad of professions,
including advertising, real estate, investments and even legal fields.

The organization's records showed contact information for hundreds of
customers in numerous residential buildings on the Upper East Side, on the
Upper West Side, in Chelsea and in SoHo, authorities said Tuesday.

The organization also allegedly delivered to restaurants and bars
throughout Manhattan, sometimes meeting clients on the street outside.

Court papers showed that most of the deliveries were in small amounts: half
a gram for $25, 1 gram for $50 or 3 grams for $150.

The orders were placed by customers who beeped the organization, which then
returned the pages using cellular telephones often subscribed to in
fraudulent names, prosecutors said. Two of the telephones were being
monitored by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

After an order was placed, a deliveryman posing as a livery cab driver
would meet the customer at a prearranged location, sometimes the residence
of the customer, according to the indictment.

"This is a wake-up call to those who believe that they can avoid arrest
through the use of livery cabs and cloned cellular phones," said Lewis Rice
Jr., special agent in charge of the DEA's New York Division. "Using or
selling drugs is tantamount to playing Russian roulette with the gun loaded."

Two of the defendants in the case were being held without bail. Another was
held pending a bail hearing later in the week, and a fourth was held on
$500,000 bail, which his lawyer said he could not afford. Arrest warrants
were issued for the other men.

If convicted, each defendant would face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in
prison and a maximum of life in prison with no parole.