AUTHORITIES FEAR AREA IS PRIME LOCATION FOR DRUG DEALERS

GLOVERSVILLE - City police are saying that despite the arrests of two men
who are suspected of having a connection with a Brooklyn gang, Gloversville
is still considered a prime location for gangsters to make a profit dealing
drugs here.

"We'd be foolish to think that it's all over," said Detective Donald
VanDeusen, who was one of two city investigators who worked on the case.

In August, VanDeusen and city Detective Joseph Nowak arrested Dennis B.
Washington, 18, and Derek J. Milner, 20, both of Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn,
in an apartment over the Milt's Again Restaurant at 122 E. Fulton St.

The police said Washington and Milner were members of the gang known as the
EU Boys that originated from a housing project in Brooklyn. They came to
the city specifically to set up shop and sell drugs, police said.

The Gloversville arrests led police to Brooklyn, where more than 60 gang
members were arrested, and more than 200 charges of drug possession were
handed out.

But local police said more gang members may come to the area in spite of
the recent bust.

VanDeusen said the profit for selling drugs in this area is much higher
than in Brooklyn. For instance, VanDeusen said a $10 bag of cocaine will
sell for $50 here.

Despite the higher profit, Nowak said penalties for drug arrests in upstate
New York are more severe.

"When they sell drugs they get more money, but when they get arrested they
get more time," Nowak said.

Capt. Edgar Beaudin of the Gloversville Police Department said the police
know the identity of the person who linked these Brooklyn gangs to
Gloversville.

"We know the link is someone that we arrested up here in April of 2000,"
Beaudin said. "We know the person was the one that brought Milner and
Washington here."

Beaudin would not release the name of the suspect but said he was a gang
member, and he probably had contacts here to spread the word that the
operation was up and running.

However, after a week of intense investigation and surveillance, police
arrested Washington and Milner, who were using someone else's apartment to
run their drug operation.

"There is no telling what we prevented by getting them when we did,"
VanDeusen said. "With the drug dealing comes violence." In Brooklyn, five
gangs controlled a housing project known as Cypress Hills, which became the
site of violence on numerous occasions. Residents were afraid to leave
their homes, police said.

The detectives do not believe that kind of situation could happen here, but
they do think that by allowing the drug dealing to continue, it could only
lead to more problems.

"If they had the opportunity to stay here, more could come up here," Nowak
said. "They might have started gang warfare up here." Beaudin said that is
something he and his detectives are committed to preventing. They want to
keep the city a safe place to live, he said.

"You can't let your guard down," he said. "If you do, then that gives them
the opportunity to take over."

VanDeusen and Nowak were brought down to testify before a grand jury in
Kings County on Oct. 8, a day after they testified before a grand jury in
Fulton County.

"We didn't realize how much of a connection there was to the city until we
got the call from the DA," VanDeusen said.

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said he was highly
impressed with the thoroughness of the detectives' work and their
assistance and invited them to attend last week's news conference
announcing the arrests.

The officers met investigators in Brooklyn, and those connections will lead
to further help in future drug investigations, the officers said.

"Many times the only name we have for someone is their street name," Nowak
said. "Now we can call down there and see if they can identify a suspect
from his street name."

Beaudin said police will remain alert and on top of any potential gang
members entering the city, but ultimately it will be the residents who will
help the police the most in their investigation.

"It's the people that help us the most in the investigation from the
information that they provide to us," he said.

Milner and Washington remain in Fulton County Jail awaiting trial, and they
are facing charges in Kings County.