TRAGIC SHOT IN THE ARM

Heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan is being peddled in New York at
increasingly lower prices in an attempt to infiltrate a market
dominated by Colombian drug lords, The Post has learned.

The disturbing trend worries law-enforcement officials because it
suggests heroin will become cheaper - and will result in more money
heading back to areas that support terrorism, sources said.

Drug probers are also concerned the price war could mean a rise in
the potency of street-level heroin.

The last time that happened, when the Colombians took over the trade
in the mid-'90s, overdose deaths spiked as recreational drug users
were caught off guard by super-potent smack on the streets of the
city.

Since then, Colombians have held a virtual stranglehold on the
American heroin business and are said to be responsible for more than
90 percent of heroin sales in New York, the main U.S. gateway for the
drug.

In a recent speech, Manhattan U.S. Attorney James Comey noted
Colombians have "squeezed out" their Asian competitors by lowering
their prices and raising the purity of their product.

But officials also believe drug smuggling from Southwest Asia - known
as "SWA heroin" - has now become a "viable threat" by using the
Colombians' own business tactics against them, sources said.

Sources said a Drug Enforcement Administration program tracking drug
trends indicates the per-kilogram price of SWA heroin in New York has
plunged in the past two years, dropping from about $95,000 to as
little as $65,000.

The SWA heroin still accounts for a small percentage compared to the
Colombian share, but authorities believe a price war could change the
split.

The DEA's top agent in New York, Felix Jimenez, would not discuss
current crime trends, but said the Colombian dominance of heroin
sales is a blueprint for how to control the industry.

"When the Colombians started, the quality of that heroin was really
bad, even though their opium was the best in the world," said
Jimenez. "Eventually, their quality and purity became much higher,
and they sold it for a lot less.

"That was the strategy they used, and it was very successful," said
Jimenez. "The Colombians' marketing was much, much better than
anything before."

In a strange twist, some officials are concerned the extra security
measures since 9/11 may actually increase heroin smuggling on planes
and cargo ships.

Tight security means extra costs and risks for drug smugglers, making
heroin more attractive because only a small amount of heroin is
needed to get the same cash on the street as much larger quantities
of cocaine or marijuana.

Even before the terror attacks, heroin shipments to New York seemed
to be skyrocketing, based on DEA seizures.

New York agents seized more than 300 kilograms of heroin in 2001 - an
increase of over 300 percent.

And the smugglers are constantly coming up with new methods to try to
stymie investigators.

One smuggling ploy is to send several drug carriers, or mules, on a
single flight - because even if one or two are stopped, the rest will
pass through.