HEROIN PROBE BEGAN IN '03

MANATEE - Ten suspects targeted in connection with a Bradenton-based
heroin-trafficking ring distributed multiple kilograms of the drug
monthly throughout the area during a three-year period, according to
officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

An investigation by federal and local law enforcement agents into the
drug ring's operations and activities began in the spring of 2003 and
stretched into both Manatee and Sarasota counties, said Assistant U.S.
Attorney Kathy J.M. Peluso, who plans to prosecute the case sometime
early next year.

Authorities say the trafficking began in 2001, when ringleader Jean
Carlos Mejias Castro, 36, allegedly began smuggling heroin from New
York City to Bradenton, where nine co-conspirators distributed
multiple kilograms of the drug on a monthly basis.

Officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office would not disclose the
amount of heroin the group pumped into the Bradenton and Sarasota
areas during the three-year time period or reveal details on how the
operation and distribution had been organized.

"We really aren't going to say anything else until there is a trial,"
said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

Officials announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Castro,
Ismael Rolon Ayala, 24, Juan Bautista Lugo, 20, Hugo Salazar, 27, and
Jesus Diaz, 32, all of Bradenton, with conspiracy to distribute and
possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.

Jose Manuel Delgado, 23, Douglas Rosado, 25, Gabriel Santiago, 23, all
of Sarasota, and Argelas Matos-Volquez, 22, of the Dominican Republic,
were also indicted on the same charges in connection with the drug
ring, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Castro is also being charged with aiding and abetting in the
distribution of a quantity of heroin, which authorities say resulted
in the death of 23-year-old Michael Andrew Tippery Jr. in June 2003.

Law enforcement officials continue to search for the 10th suspect,
Alexis Rolon Ayala, 40, of Bradenton.

If convicted on all counts, the suspects could face a maximum penalty
of life imprisonment and fines of up to $5 million, according to the
U.S. Attorney's Office.

A break in the trafficking case, which remains under investigation by
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Manatee County Sheriff's
Office, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and the Sarasota Police
Department, came with the arrest of Nicole Capobianco in connection
with Tippery's death two days after his death.

While officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office did not confirm that
Capobianco led law enforcement to the drug ring, they did indicate her
testimony may have played an important role in the bust.

"All I can say is that her plea agreement requires her to give full
and complete and truthful cooperation with law enforcement," Peluso
said.

The current wholesale value of heroin is estimated at $70,000 to
$85,000 per kilogram. The street value of a gram of heroin in the
Bradenton area during the time period charged in the conspiracy was
between $150 to $300 per gram, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Manatee County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dave Bristow said the case
remains under investigation as federal and local officers search for
the 10th suspect.

"This is an open investigation and there will be more arrests," he
said Thursday.

Law enforcement officers say because heroin carries such a high street
value, it's not the type of opiate that can be bought at any drug-
infested street corner. Instead, heroin sales follow a more
sophisticated pattern, with a dealer usually selling the drug to
regular customers on a clientele list.

While some dealers sell pure heroin, other dealers lace the opiate
with cutting agents such as sugar, milk, lactose, starch, salts such
as quinine, and mannitol, a nutritive sweetener.

"It's more bang for their buck," Manatee County Sheriff's Office Sgt.
Bob Mealy said.

Such a buy comes with a heavy price for the consumers,
though.

"There's no quality control on the streets, and that's what kills
people," Mealy said. "It's so unsafe because you don't know what
you're getting. It changes from dealer to dealer in terms potency and
purity."

If a dealer buys a kilogram of heroin for $70,000, and breaks the drug
up into 1,000 gram packages, he can make $120,000 by selling the 1,000
units at $120 a package, Mealy explained. Those units are then sold in
smaller quantities, which usually range between $5 to $20 a bag, law
enforcement officers said.

"These drugs are addicting, there's no question," Mealy said. "It's
sad what some people will do to satisfy that addiction."

TO HELP

Anyone with information about the Bradenton-based heroin-trafficking
ring or the suspects wanted in connection with the group is asked to
call the CrimeStoppers hotline