WESTMORELAND DETECTIVE TO TESTIFY IN U.S. HOUSE HEROIN HEARINGS

Greensburg, Westmoreland County Detective Tony Marcocci has been asked
to tell a U.S. House committee about the impact of heroin.

Marcocci was asked to testify Thursday because of his familiarity with
the drug and the problems it creates, said House Government Reform
Committee spokesman Blaine Rettmaier.

The hearing is titled "America's Heroin Crisis, Colombian Heroin and
How we Can Improve Plan Colombia." Drug Enforcement Administration
Administrator Asa Hutchinson and White House Office of Drug Policy
Director John Walters also have been asked to testify. Last fall
Walters and U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-McCandless, warned Highlands
High School students about heroin and other drugs.

"Plan Colombia" outlines what can be done to destroy poppy plants in
South America and otherwise derail heroin's importation into the
United States. According to the DEA, all U.S.heroin is imported.

White powder heroin was developed by a Colombian cocaine cartel for
sale in the United States. It can be snorted or smoked, but most
addicts switch to injecting the drug because it gets the drug into
their systems quicker and it's less expensive.

Colombian heroin was reported in southwest Pennsylvania by 2000 and
the drug has been blamed for numerous deaths in Allegheny,
Westmoreland, Butler and Armstrong counties.

The Government Reform Committee reviews national security, criminal
justice and other topics. Committee Chairman Dan Burton is a
Republican from Indiana.

Marcocci has been widely quoted in the Valley News Dispatch and was a
speaker at the Sept. 25 Alle-Kiski Valley Drug Summit sponsored by the
newspaper and its partners. More than 800 people attended the summit.

Last month Marcocci was quoted in a Miami Herald story about the
spread of Colombian heroin in the Northeast.

Miami Herald reporter Tim Johnson said he visited Greensburg and
Latrobe after reading Valley News Dispatch and other stories about the
heroin crisis, including reports about the deaths of three students
from the same Highlands graduating class of 2001.

Johnson said heroin is not as much of a problem in Miami as it is in
the Northeast, but the problem there is of national interest. He
quoted a retired Drug Enforcement Administration official who said 2
kilograms of heroin can sell for $80,000 each while dealers would have
to sell 20 kilograms of cocaine to get that much money.

Marcocci said he has been a county detective for 23 years. Before that
he was a fingerprint technician for the FBI and Allegheny County.

Marcocci and his partner, Detective Terry Kuhns, do most of the drug
investigations for the county and they assist local police
departments, too.

In the Nov. 10 Miami Herald story, Marcocci said heroin is hitting the
area harder than cocaine did.

"The stuff is coming in so strong and so pure," Westmoreland County
Coroner Ken Bacha was quoted as saying.

"It's rural. It's trailer park out in the country, private homes
scattered about -just average American people," he said.

Marcocci said Kuhns and a Latrobe detective are scheduled to join him
for the trip to Washington.