SPECIAL FORCE TO BATTLE POTENT HEROIN

An "extremely potent and highly addictive" heroin is making its way into
Wisconsin, officials said Tuesday in announcing the formation of a
special squad of federal, state and local law enforcement agents to
combat the problem.

"Our intention, of course, is to try to get ahead of the curve," said
Jack Riley, head of the local office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency.

Riley and U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) announced the new task force
during a news conference at the federal courthouse.

The task force will be funded through a $3 million federal high
intensity drug trafficking area grant. It will include representatives
of the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Customs Service, the Sheriff's Department,
the Milwaukee Police Department and the state Division of Narcotics
Enforcement.

The grant also will fund an intelligence unit to allow law enforcement
agencies to share information, a street crime task force and two gang
task forces.

The money will allow the agencies to "focus primarily on the lethal
mixture of drugs, gangs and guns in Milwaukee," U.S. Attorney Thomas
Schneider said after the news conference.

"Study after study has shown a significant percentage of violent
felonies committed are drug- and gang-related," Schneider said.

Feingold said the heroin was being called "new heroin" because "it is
not the stereotypical heroin that invokes images of junkies in the
street shooting up with shared needles. It is a very pure, cheap and
highly potent drug that can be smoked or inhaled, allowing users to
deceive themselves that it is not as dangerous as it used to be."

Some people sprinkle it on a marijuana cigarette and smoke it, officials
said.

Law enforcement officials first noticed the drug in the state a few
years ago, shortly after it appeared in Chicago, Riley said. In
Wisconsin, investigations into matters involving the drug have occurred
in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties, he said.

Riley said the task force can help prevent the drug's use from
mushrooming the way the use of cocaine and crack did in the area.

"It won't catch us by surprise," he said.

Checked-by: willtoo