News (Media Awareness Project) - US TN: Heroin Ring Takedown Starts In Middle Tennessee |
| Title: | US TN: Heroin Ring Takedown Starts In Middle Tennessee |
| Published On: | 2006-08-16 |
| Source: | City Paper, The (TN) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-13 05:36:13 |
HEROIN RING TAKEDOWN STARTS IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
An investigation meant to dismantle a Mexican drug ring that started
in Nashville almost one year ago has led to more than 150 arrests
around the country.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced the findings of
aoeOperation Black Gold Rusha on Tuesday even as local law
enforcement officials were making arrests.
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials said the Mexican-based
organization was made up of mostly illegal immigrants based in 15
cities, including Knoxville and Memphis. They allegedly had a
well-run business model set up to move heroin around the country,
with members even using titles like district manager and receiving
salaries with benefits.
aoeThis organization worked much more like an American corporate
model,a said Harry Sommers, the local DEA special agent in charge,
during a Tuesday press conference at the Estes Kefauver Federal
Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Nashville. aoeThey even had
a standardized product out of a city called Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico.a
Jim Vines, the U.S. attorney for Middle Tennessee, said the national
bust points to the re-emergence of heroin as a popular drug. The
highly addictive substance is similar to morphine and can be snorted,
smoked or injected, producing a sense of euphoria.
aoeThe more things change, the more they tend to stay the same,a
Vines said during the press conference. aoeA drug that many of us
havenaTMt paid much attention to in several years now has stuck its
ugly head back up again.a
The defendants have been charged with drug trafficking and money
laundering. Vines said by this morning, the 27 indictments in
Nashville will have led to as many arrests. Federal narcotics charges
come with punishments ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. The
maximum penalty for money laundering is 20 years.
While the formal investigation has concluded, the blitz on heroin
will continue, Vines said.
Local DEA agents claim heroin use is on the rise among high schoolers
and warn parents to be especially aware of the deadly drug. In Middle
Tennessee, more than 20 pounds of heroin has already been
confiscated, which is nearly half of the total weight retrieved from
the national bust.
According to law enforcement officials, the ring would target its
sales at drug addicts who were leaving treatment facilities.
aoeThey would go to the new city, go to the methadone clinics, and
provide heroin to those individuals cheaply and/or free, just to get
them back on the product,a Sommers said.
The indictments state that large packages of heroin were repackaged
in Nashville and stored in warehouses for distribution. After users
would call in an order, the runners would deliver color-coded rubber
balloons that they carried in their mouths so as to swallow if
necessary to avoid police detection.
The balloons varied in weight from as small as a one gram, which sold
for roughly $150, to 30 grams, selling for nea
An investigation meant to dismantle a Mexican drug ring that started
in Nashville almost one year ago has led to more than 150 arrests
around the country.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced the findings of
aoeOperation Black Gold Rusha on Tuesday even as local law
enforcement officials were making arrests.
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials said the Mexican-based
organization was made up of mostly illegal immigrants based in 15
cities, including Knoxville and Memphis. They allegedly had a
well-run business model set up to move heroin around the country,
with members even using titles like district manager and receiving
salaries with benefits.
aoeThis organization worked much more like an American corporate
model,a said Harry Sommers, the local DEA special agent in charge,
during a Tuesday press conference at the Estes Kefauver Federal
Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Nashville. aoeThey even had
a standardized product out of a city called Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico.a
Jim Vines, the U.S. attorney for Middle Tennessee, said the national
bust points to the re-emergence of heroin as a popular drug. The
highly addictive substance is similar to morphine and can be snorted,
smoked or injected, producing a sense of euphoria.
aoeThe more things change, the more they tend to stay the same,a
Vines said during the press conference. aoeA drug that many of us
havenaTMt paid much attention to in several years now has stuck its
ugly head back up again.a
The defendants have been charged with drug trafficking and money
laundering. Vines said by this morning, the 27 indictments in
Nashville will have led to as many arrests. Federal narcotics charges
come with punishments ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. The
maximum penalty for money laundering is 20 years.
While the formal investigation has concluded, the blitz on heroin
will continue, Vines said.
Local DEA agents claim heroin use is on the rise among high schoolers
and warn parents to be especially aware of the deadly drug. In Middle
Tennessee, more than 20 pounds of heroin has already been
confiscated, which is nearly half of the total weight retrieved from
the national bust.
According to law enforcement officials, the ring would target its
sales at drug addicts who were leaving treatment facilities.
aoeThey would go to the new city, go to the methadone clinics, and
provide heroin to those individuals cheaply and/or free, just to get
them back on the product,a Sommers said.
The indictments state that large packages of heroin were repackaged
in Nashville and stored in warehouses for distribution. After users
would call in an order, the runners would deliver color-coded rubber
balloons that they carried in their mouths so as to swallow if
necessary to avoid police detection.
The balloons varied in weight from as small as a one gram, which sold
for roughly $150, to 30 grams, selling for nea
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