HEROIN SEIZURES TOP $500,000 IN 2008

Deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office seized more than
25 times the amount of heroin in 2008 as they did in 2004, according
to statistics provided by the office. Last year's seizures totaling an
estimated $536,300 worth of heroin represent the largest quantity of
the drug the office has seized in the past five years - a period when
heroin seizures have increased drastically. Sheriff Sid Causey said
the office's Vice and Narcotics Division is combatting the problem,
which affects the community in many ways. "I know that this fuels our
crime," Causey said. "It kills our young people. This breaks up homes
and families." In the past five years, more than 30 people died from
heroin overdoses in New Hanover County, according to statistics from a
state health agency and the Wilmington Police Department. In addition
to seizing greater quantities of heroin, Causey said deputies are
finding the drug in a purer form than in years past. Capt. David
Ciamillo, who heads up the narcotics division, said heroin is
affecting a broad spectrum of people. He cited a raid last month of an
apartment on Seabrook Court, which culminated with deputies seizing
170 bags of heroin and arresting four people, three of them University
of North Carolina Wilmington students. "It's not just a problem in one
location," Ciamillo said. "It's a problem throughout the county."
Ongoing problem In 2008, deputies seized 13,371 bags of heroin.

The bags contain about .03 gram of heroin each, Ciamillo said, or one
dose. Sometimes deputies seize the drugs already packaged.

In other cases, they estimate how many bags the heroin they seize
would fill, Ciamillo said. The total seizures for 2008 are a 55
percent increase over 2007, and a 25 percent increase over 2006,
according to the office's statistics. In 2004, deputies seized 496
bags. Large increases came the next two years when the office seized
2,040 bags and 10,714 bags respectively. Ciamillo said the rising
quantity of seizures is a result of the prevalence of heroin on the
street and the office's efforts to address the problem. From 2004 to
2007, an average of six people died of heroin overdoses each year in
New Hanover County, according to the N.C. Center for Health
Statistics. The center hasn't compiled the number for 2008 yet.

Wilmington police investigated six fatal heroin overdoses in 2008,
according to department crime analyst Barry Coburn. Three times in the
past four years, overdose deaths led authorities in Wilmington and New
Hanover County to warn the public of potent batches of heroin. In the
spring of 2006, four fatal overdoses in several months prompted New
Hanover County District Attorney Ben David to form a task force to
address public health concern. In early 2008, authorities warned users
after four people overdosed in December 2007 and early January 2008.
Several of those overdoses were linked to one brand of heroin.
Investigations Causey and Ciamillo said deputies try to work
investigations back from street corner dealers to their higher-up
sources in the area. Those dealers cut and package heroin, which
arrives from cities such as New York, Baltimore or Miami, and then
distribute it for sale in the county, Ciamillo said. Sometimes
deputies pass their information to out-of-town law enforcement, which
they hope will continue the investigation. In some of those cases,
Ciamillo said, deputies have been later notified of other arrests.

Many local investigations start with complaints from citizens and are
conducted through a combination of undercover work and surveillance,
he said. Causey said the office would like to charge dealers with
second-degree murder in cases where investigators know who supplied
the drugs to an overdose victim. In the past year, at least two
families who have lost loved ones to drug overdoses have said they
would like authorities to pursue that option. Causey said his office
is looking into the possibility in a couple of cases. But even if they
could show who supplied the drugs, he said, getting a conviction would
be difficult because users contribute to their own deaths. Deputies
hope to prevent overdoses by arresting dealers and seizing heroin,
Causey said. "Potentially each bag could kill someone," he said. "We
can try to fight heroin by keeping it from reaching our citizens."

Sidebar New Hanover County heroin seizures 2008: 13,371 bags worth an
estimated $536,300 2007: 8,610.50 bags worth an estimated $344,441.00
2006: 10,714 bags worth an estimated $428,200.00 2005: 2,040 bags
worth an estimated $81,103.00 2004: 496.59 worth an estimated $19,940.03

Fatal heroin overdoses in New Hanover County 2008: * 2007: 4 2006: 3
2005: 9 2004: 9 2003: 5

* Number not yet available

Source: N.C. Center for Health Statistics