Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 Source: Inquirer (PA) Copyright: 2001 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc Contact: http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/home/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340 Author: Elisa Ung PHILA. IDENTIFIED AS A HUB FOR HEROIN A Pa. grand-jury investigation found dealers from across the state came to the "Badlands" to buy, reselling at big profits. A sure supply of pure, cheap heroin in Philadelphia regularly lures dealers from across Pennsylvania who then sell the drug for up to a 400 percent profit, according to an 18-month statewide grand-jury investigation released yesterday. Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher said at a news conference that buyers from as far away as Greene, Luzerne and Blair Counties made lucrative profits off the heroin they bought in parts of North Philadelphia known as the "Badlands." "I was sickened to realize the number of young people who got in their car, drove 200, 250 miles, . . . spent their money, bought poison, went back and sold it for a profit, and some of them died," Fisher said. Fisher, a likely contender for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, was joined by Philadelphia Police Department representatives and parents of heroin-overdose victims. The news conference was in the 2700 block of North Hope Street in Fairhill, where state agents broke up a heroin operation in 1998 that had shipped nearly 6,000 bags of heroin into Greene County. The investigation opened after reports of heroin-overdose deaths throughout the state and investigations into heroin trafficking. The report detailed how a heroin operation works: Suppliers obtain kilo quantities of heroin and pay $2,500 to $6,000 a week in "rent" to dealers in North Philadelphia, who in turn agree to sell the supplier's heroin. The dealers then pay others to sell the heroin on the streets and serve as lookouts. Suppliers often stamp a brand name such as "I'll be Back" or "Ghetto" on their heroin packet. Runners can deliver the heroin in cars with hidden compartments that can be opened by a secret method, such as using small magnets or simultaneously using the ignition, windshield wipers and radio. The report recommended a mandatory minimum jail term for anyone convicted twice of intent to deliver a controlled substance, regardless of the weight involved. Currently, minimum-sentencing laws apply only to those found with two or more grams of heroin, which drug agents said allowed dealers to easily avoid jail time. The report also called for tighter monitoring of bench warrants and more educational programs in schools. At the conference, Deborah Fowler said her 18-year-old son, Adam, had driven to North Philadelphia from his home in Carrolltown, Cambria County, to buy heroin. She found him dead of an overdose on May 19, 1998. "Living in a rural community 250 miles away from Philadelphia, I never thought my son would become a victim of heroin or any illicit drug," Fowler said. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew