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Thursday, November 27, 1997

Arrests putting dent in Plano heroin supply, law officers say

By LINDA LEAVELL / Associated Press Writer

PLANO, Texas (AP) -- The arrest of a 37-year-old heroin dealer and four mid-level distributors already is putting a major dent in this Dallas suburb's drug supply, law officers said Wednesday.

Eliserio Martinez and four others were being held on state charges, but those will be dropped in favor of federal charges of conspiracy and distribution of heroin, said Michael S. Vigil, assistant special agent in charge for the Dallas division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Vigil and Plano police officer Carl Duke identified Martinez as the city's direct link to Guerrero, Mexico, where the heroin was being produced.

"The significant aspect of these arrests is the fact that these individuals were distributing at the street level 75 percent pure heroin. Normally, street-level heroin is between 3 (percent) and 7 percent pure," Vigil said. "So what was taking place is that you had school-age kids that were using this heroin at this purity level. They had no tolerance to it and this translated into a very hideous death, namely respiratory asphyxiation."

Plano, a prosperous suburb of 190,000 people just north of Dallas, has seen about a dozen teen-agers die of heroin overdoses in the past year -- all from inhaling the drug, a practice youngsters are convinced is safer than using a needle.

While the suburban phenomenon was drawing national attention, a multiagency task force was formed in September to address the growing heroin problem. Since its inception, the task force has filed 31 cases and seized nearly 2.5 pounds of heroin, Duke said.

Two months of investigation ultimately led officers to Martinez.

"We would make street-level arrests and buys, which would lead us to the next person in the chain," Duke said.

Sunday's arrests of Martinez and his associates also netted 28 ounces of heroin, a half pound of cocaine and three weapons. Martinez, who was charged was charged with manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance of less than 400 grams, was being held Wednesday in the Collin County Jail on $75,000 bond. He also was being held on a federal detainer for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Vigil said Mexico's competition with Colombia to sell heroin is yielding purer product and lower prices on the street.

Martinez and his associates were earning about $100,000 for each kilogram that was distributed. Had they cut the drug, it probably would have yielded them millions of dollars per kilogram, Vigil said.

"It was a good marketing tactic, just like any entrepreneur," he said. "He sold the best heroin, therefore he had the lion's share of the heroin market in the Plano area."