RAID OF HEROIN RING LEADS TO FIVE ARRESTS

Task Force Says Suspects Supplied Mexican Drug For Sale In Plano

By Linda Stewart Ball / The Dallas Morning News

PLANO A multiagency drug task force has cut off a major supply of Mexican
blacktar heroin to the Plano area by arresting the leader and several
members of a small drug ring, authorities said Wednesday.

After a twomonth investigation by Plano police and federal agents, five
undocumented immigrants from Mexico were arrested in a Sunday raid in
McKinney.

It was the biggest operation for the task force, which includes Plano
police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Texas
Department of Public Safety, Dallas police and state and federal
prosecutors. McKinney police and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service also assisted in the Sunday raid.

Authorities seized about 28 ounces of heroin with an estimated street value
of $195,000, a halfpound of cocaine, more than $29,000 in cash and three
firearms, including an AR15 assault rifle. They displayed the items during
a morning news conference at Plano police headquarters.

Arrested on a variety of federal and state charges, including manufacturing
and delivering a controlled substance, were Ecliserio Martinez, 37; Irma
Lopez Vega, 25; Jose Antonio Contreras, 21; Macruz Baldovin Pineda, also
known as Maria Cruz VergaraBaldovinos, 25; and her husband, Salvador
Pineda, 26.

All were being held in the Collin County Jail on federal immigration
detainers, federal authorities said.

Authorities said Mr. Martinez was the group's leader. He is from Guerrero,
Mexico, which authorities described as a key production site for heroin
flowing into the United States.

Mr. Martinez's ring had been operating for some time in Plano and the
surrounding area, officials said.

"Severing this direct link between Mexico heroin and Plano will
significantly impact the availability of heroin in this area," Plano Police
Chief Bruce Glasscock said.

He also warned parents not to drop their guard.

"Parents still need to be aware of the dangers that exist," he said, noting
that a lack of affordable drug treatment centers contributes to the problem.

Since 1996, at least 11 youths with Plano ties have died from heroin
overdoses.

Because Mr. Martinez is considered the primary source for area street
dealers, his arrest will make it more difficult for young heroin addicts to
find the drug, police said.

In an 80day period, he handled what amounts to 440 capsules of heroin with
an average street value of $4,400, the task force investigation revealed.

The Sunday seizure in McKinney removed another 19,500 capsules of heroin
from the street. An individual could use up to six capsules a day.
Authorities declined to state the exact location or details of the raid
because the investigation is still ongoing.

The heroin they sold was extremely potent, about 75 percent pure, said
Michael Vigil, assistant special agent in charge at the DEA's Dallas field
office.

Heroin is usually sold in purity levels between 3 and 7 percent, he said.

"Even if the intermediaries were to cut it once, you're still talking about
37 percent pure," he said. "For kids that have not developed a high
tolerance to this type of drug, it means tremendous" overdoses.

Heroin made its lethal entry into the Plano area about two years ago,
authorities say. The Heroin Task Force was created in September as part of
an aggressive enforcement effort to turn the tide. Before Sunday's raid,
the task force had made 31 arrests and seized nearly 2.5 pounds of heroin,
with a street value of about $200,000.

"What makes this bust different is he [Mr. Martinez] is the supplier to the
streetlevel supplier," Chief Glasscock said. "We characterize it as going
up the food chain as far as we can go. ... In this particular community and
in Collin County, we have eliminated the food source to the street supplier."

Because the heroin in the Plano area comes directly from Mexico, Chief
Glasscock blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he referred
to in jest as the "North American Free Trafficking Agreement."

"The Mexican cartel and the organized crime in Mexico started buying into
legitimate transportation businesses, and that heroin is being transported
into this country, not only by air and boat but through" legitimate
transportation means, he said.

"I don't think it's coincidental that the Dallas area started seeing
significant increases in heroin availability about the time that NAFTA went
through," he said.

McKinney Police Chief Larry Robinson said he had no idea whether NAFTA
played a role but said he does believe heroin dealers created the demand
for the drug in Collin County.

"They came up to an area that's very affluent; there's a lot of money here,
and they are profitoriented," Chief Robinson said. "It's a business. They
knew the money is here so they targeted us. ... No community is immune to
drug trafficking."

Nonetheless, several Collin County residents said news of the arrests gave
them one more thing to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

"I used for two years, and that's the best thing I've heard all year," said
Corey Blair, 20, of Frisco. "That's just made my holiday."