Pubdate: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2002 El Paso Times Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829 Author: Diana Washington Valdez Note: Diana Washington Valdez covers border affairs RESIDENTS SAY PUSHER TERRORIZES COMMUNITY Something is wrong when Juarez families ask an El Paso newspaper for help because of a drug problem in their neighborhood. A representative for residents in the Colonia Puerto de la Paz, a poor neighborhood in the northwest end of the city, said a local drug pusher has terrorized their streets since 1997. So why not call the police? "Well, we have, but we suspect police are involved," the representative said. "The drug pusher and his gang threatened us after some police last went to his house. We have nowhere else to turn." The neighbors provided the names of those involved and the unit numbers of city patrol vehicles that make frequent visits to the drug pusher's home. Allegedly, the pusher sells cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Federal police who went to the dealer's house seized weapons and drugs but made no arrests. Chihuahua state judicial police also seized items from his home but made no arrests. Research confirms The neighbors said they worry that someone will be killed or seriously injured because the drug dealer's gang likes to play around by shooting off weapons from rooftops. Gang members accost young women who walk down the streets and intimidate the longtime residents who yearn for their once-peaceful colonia. Javier Arroyo, a research professor in Juarez, conducted a survey and study a couple of years ago that confirmed the existence of such gangs throughout the city -- and their connections to police. "Neighbors, for example, might report certain people to police who were committing burglaries, and nothing would get done," he said. "They would mention that police were protecting the burglars in their colonias. Sometimes rapes were reported, and again, nothing (was done). This was the pattern in numerous colonias throughout the city." Picaderos The White House Office of Drug Control Policy has reported a rise in the number of drug addicts in Juarez, where drug dealers are finding it hard to transport drugs across the border. Dealers in Juarez are pushing their merchandise on the locals through a network of more than 1,000 picaderos (drug storefronts), and are creating a new generation of addicts. The ramifications for El Paso are enormous. Juarez government and police officials publicly acknowledge the picaderos, which DEA and FBI sources allege are controlled by former Juarez police officials who work with the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel. U.S. officials say the network generates lots of money, and that could be why none of them are shut down. Mexican newspapers routinely publish stories and pictures of "Chandokan," the city's alleged heroin king, while someone known as "Madonna" is the alleged cocaine queen. Although residents say they are not hard to find, Manuel del Castillo, spokesman for the Juarez federal police office headed by Lorenzo Aquino, could not explain why neither is in jail. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart