OPA-LOCKA ON BUSH ANTI-DRUG TOUR
Opa-locka's Triangle, a small economically depressed neighborhood that has
long been terrorized by drug dealers and drug-related violence, will be the
final stop on Friday of a tri-city tour by Gov. Jeb Bush and the state's
drug czar Jim McDonough touting a statewide strategy to reduce the scourge
of drugs in Florida.

Opa-locka leaders believe the visit to the nine-block neighborhood will give
them a needed boost in tackling a recalcitrant drug problem.

Despite barricades erected in the city's Triangle 12 years ago to keep drug
traffic out, and despite hundreds of thousands of dollars obtained to combat
crime, drug sales have flourished. Drug users from as far north as Palm
Beach County drive to the neighborhood to make their purchases.

"The drug trade is an economic enterprise for the Triangle and this, of
course, has made it difficult for families to live there and prosper,"
McDonough, director of the state Office of Drug Control, said Wednesday.

Governor determined

"It's a threat to children and families. It's a deterrent to legitimate
businesses. Gov. Bush doesn't plan to let that stand. If the community
stands up and says, `No, we actually want legitimate businesses, economic
growth plans, safe schools where are our children have potential for the
future,' he's there to reinforce that statement. He's putting his money
where his mouth is."

Bush has promised to spend half a billion dollars next year to reduce drug
use by 50 percent over five years. It's estimated that about 8 percent of
the people in Florida -- compared to 6.2 percent nationwide -- use illegal
drugs.

Bush and McDonough will visit Orlando and St. Petersburg as well as
Opa-locka on Friday to dramatize and reiterate a three-part Florida Drug
Control Strategy to accomplish that goal: prevention and education,
treatment and law-enforcement.

In Opa-locka, the governor is expected to make more announcements about his
"holistic" approach to fighting drugs, specifically law enforcement.

Opa-locka Mayor Alvin Miller, who invited the state leaders in, welcomed the
visit to the Triangle, which sits near State Road 9 between Northwest 22nd
Avenue, 151st Street and Ali Baba Avenue.

`A disease in our city'

"Those residents who live in the Triangle have been held hostage for so many
years," said Miller, who is hoping the visits will mean the city can get
funds to help combat the problem. "Drugs are a disease in our city."

In 1998, Opa-locka, a 4.5-square-mile city, had 12 murders, many of which
occurred in the Triangle.

After the Drug Enforcement Agency last year arrested drug kingpin Rickey
Brownlee, who based his $1 million-year operation in the neighborhood, a
violent turf war erupted.

Over a 10-year period Brownlee won loyalty and support in the starkly poor
neighborhood by giving away money, food and toys. In August, Brownlee was
convicted of conspiring to launder profits from drugs. He is expected to be
sentenced to life in federal prison.

But neighborhood leaders say little has changed.

"It seems like sometimes you're fighting a losing battle," said the Rev.
Tyrone Jones, 44, minister of Church of God Triangle Hope Ministry. "I
welcome [the governor and czar]. It's so hard because a lot of families
depend on that [drug money].