HEROIN - TRAFFCING RING SHUT DOWN IN ROCHESTER, FEDERAL OFFICIALS SAY

ROCHESTER - Federal and state police have shut down a drug-trafficing
ring they say was capable of distributing as much as $1.5 million
worth of heroin each month in Rochester and Buffalo.

A dozen people, most of them immigrants from Cuba, Puerto Rico and
Colombia, were arrested at eight residents and a liquor store Thursday
after an eight-month investigation that employed undercover drug buys
and telephone wiretaps.

The heroin appears to have originated in Colombia and been funneled
through Texas, Florida and New York City, as well as other U.S.
cities, said special agent John Bryfonski, chief of the U. S. Drug
Enforcement Administration's operations in upstate New York.

"We feel confident the local level of supply has been netted,"
bryfonski said Friday. We are going to continue to keep a watchful eye
for anyone who seeks to fill that void."

The "average grade" heroin flowed through a hierarchical network in
which the drug ring had "a number of mid-level sources who repackage
and distribute to customers," he said.

A federal affidavit identified the suspected local leaders as Cuban
natives, who sold drugs from MG Liquor & Wines store. The ring had
access to about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds), or about 75,000 hits, of
heroin a month, it said.

Only the first phase of the investigation, code-named "Operation Odd
Couple," has been completed. Bryfonski said he hoped the next phases
lead to the top level of the supply chain and possibly result in
destroying poppy fields in Colombia.