INDICTMENTS DELIVER HARDBALL WARNING

Drug dealing in North Texas just moved to the next rung on the
criminal ladder. Those who sell heroin and other deadly drugs, fully
knowing what they can do to people who use them, are going to face
tougher consequences.

That is the warning pushers have been given by the latest indictments
in the continuing probe of heroin-related deaths in the Plano area.

The 29 people indicted Wednesday are accused of participating in a
"calculated and coldblooded" conspiracy that led to the deaths of four
Plano area young people who overdosed on heroin.

Federal prosecutors maintain the dealers must share in the
responsibility for the teenagers' deaths because they continued to
sell drugs after a number of young people using heroin had died.

The criminal accusations name drug trafficking for what it is: Drug
dealers are death merchants. And in the case of the heroin-related
deaths in Plano, simple charges of dealing drugs would not have
addressed the whole, tragic story.

Plano has been ravaged by a group of drug traffickers who federal
authorities say targeted the affluent community as a prospective
heroin market. At least 18 young people with Plano ties have died in
the last three years from heroin overdoses.

Prosecutors may have made their task of getting convictions more
difficult by applying the federal conspiracy law to these drug cases.
But their decision is clearly in line with what the public and law
officers want in this war on drugs.

The suspected dealers can be tried together and can face maximum
penalties of life in prison if they are convicted. That should help
send a signal that North Texas won't allow this area to become an easy
market for drug traffickers.

The Plano community has come together since the first shocking reports
of teenagers dying from drug overdoses. Residents have packed meeting
halls, wanting to find out what they can do to keep sons, daughters
and friends off drugs.

Plano has paid a terrible price for not fully comprehending the
destructive force of drugs. Now it is time for the suppliers to pay a
price for the damage they have coldbloodedly wreaked on this community.

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"