RARE TYPE OF HEROIN TARGETED IN MOON BUST

Eight Mexican illegal aliens arrested in Moon were members of a group
responsible for smuggling and distributing black tar heroin in
Allegheny and Beaver counties, according to arrest affidavits filed
by the state Attorney General's Office.

Agents from the state Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug
Control, working with local police, seized six ounces of the heroin
and 485 balloons filled with the drug, containing an unknown amount.
The drug would have sold for an estimated $50,000 on the street,
authorities said. A balloon can contain a gram or more.

The March 23 arrests are part of a larger investigation into an
organization whose members are active in Pittsburgh, Moon, Bellevue,
Ambridge, Center, Monaca and Rochester, law-enforcement officials
said. More arrests are anticipated.

"Mexican black tar heroin is a new phenomena that we haven't seen in
Pennsylvania until very recently," said Kevin Harley, spokesman for
state Attorney General Tom Corbett. "In the past, we've seen only
traditional powdered heroin marketed in small 'stamp bag' packets."

Investigators seized $18,000 in cash, pagers and other evidence when
they raided an apartment in the Thorn Run Apartment Complex on Lee
Drive in Moon, an affidavit states. In the trash, agents found "owe
sheets" and receipts indicating how drugs and money were transferred.

Agents identified [Name redacted], 25, no address given, as a top
leader of the group, and [Name redacted], 25, as the man responsible
for local day-to-day operations. They face charges of possession and
unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, corruption and conspiracy.

Others arrested were [Name redacted], 28, [Name redacted], 25, [Name
redacted], 20, [Name redacted], 21, [Name redacted], 22, and [Name
redacted], 19. Most lived in the Moon apartment, investigators said.

Initially detained on immigration violations, they were charged
Friday with the drug and conspiracy charges. The suspects are being
held in the Allegheny County Jail for Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials. Court hearings have not been set.

Harley said authorities aren't certain how long the eight have been
in the area. He said state investigators began looking into the
alleged drug operation last year.

The investigation stretches into Columbus, Ohio. Agents relied on
confidential informants, surveillance of suspects, court-ordered
reviews of phone records and "trash pulls," the affidavits show.

"From my understanding, this group has totally circumvented the
traditional heroin networks. It's a basic supply-and-demand issue.
The AG's office has seen the danger and is moving rather aggressively
to stop it before it gets out of hand," said Ambridge police Chief
Mark Romutis, whose officers helped in the investigation.

The group's members relied on a U.S. citizen to legally buy and
register a car, used pagers to communicate, and called buyers from
blocked phone numbers to arrange sales, authorities said in the affidavit.

Black tar heroin is named because of its gummy, tar-like consistency
and usually is packaged in rubber balloons. Like powdered heroin, the
drug can be injected or smoked. It is prevalent in cities on the West
Coast and border states such as Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

It is rarely seen on the East Coast, said Steven Robertson, a special
agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The heroin is typically cheaper than powdered heroin produced in
Colombia and Bolivia and smuggled, in large part, by distribution
networks composed of the four-largest Mexican-based drug cartels: The
Gulf, Juarez, Tijuana and "La Federacion" groups, Robertson said.

It isn't known whether the eight people arrested have ties to any of
those cartels.

Heroin reaching the streets in Western Pennsylvania typically is
Colombian-produced, powdered heroin supplied largely by loosely knit
groups with ties to the Dominican Republic, said James Harper,
assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration's Pittsburgh office. The Dominican groups work from
New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Harper said.

"The black tar heroin is coming from Mexico. It is, in fact, being
produced and shipped from Mexico," Harley said.

The smugglers often rely on illegal immigrants who are organizing
themselves into small groups, containing a few individuals or as many
as 10, Robertson said.

"With the Mexican cells, they can be as small as two to three guys
working a street corner. ... These are self-contained networks," he said.