Pubdate: Sat, 12 Nov 2005
Source: Indianapolis Star (IN)
Copyright: 2005 Indianapolis Newspapers Inc.
Contact: http://www.indystar.com/help/contact/letters.html
Website: http://www.starnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/210
Author: Paul Bird

POLICE SEIZE HEROIN, SALES RECORDS DURING RAID

Johnson County

Police believe dealers are selling costly drug to youths in White 
River Township, Greenwood.

Police believe some teenagers from affluent White River Township and 
Greenwood families are using heroin from Indianapolis drug dealers. 
The highly addictive and expensive opiate has been readily available, 
police said. Three teenagers in Johnson County have overdosed.

One teenager admitted having a $200-a-day heroin addiction, said 
Johnson County Sheriff Terry McLaughlin.

A $50 dose would be about the size of an aspirin and can be injected 
or smoked. Thursday night, police raided a Capital Place townhouse 
apartment in the 4300 block of Declaration Drive, west of Southern 
Plaza Shopping Center, Indianapolis. Officers found Mexican brown 
heroin bundled in small multicolored balloons, and $13,520.

The seized drugs were valued at about $50,000, said Greenwood police 
narcotic investigator Sgt. Jeff McCorkle.

No one was home when police arrived at 7:30 p.m. No arrests had been 
made by Friday afternoon. Three men lived in the apartment, neighbors said.

Greenwood Police Chief Joe Pitcher and the sheriff accompanied armed 
officers on the raid.

On Oct. 15, a 15-year-old boy overdosed on heroin was dumped out of a 
car on the parking lot of SS. Francis & Clare Catholic Church, 5901 
Olive Branch Road.

Another 17-year-old boy in a car was stopped a short time later by 
Greenwood police at Fairview Road near Ind. 135. Pitcher said the 
17-year-old was an accomplice to the heroin overdose.

Both boys blamed the other for providing the drug, according to a 
Johnson County sheriff's report.

The older boy said he picked up his friend in the Eagle Trace 
subdivision and noticed a needle sticking out of his arm. He said he 
drove into the church parking lot and attempted to help his friend, 
who was passing out and vomiting.

"He just left him there and called 911," Pitcher said.

Thursday's raid was directly tied to the overdoses, McLaughlin said.

"We think the drug was being used by kids from affluent families," 
McLaughlin said. "It's very expensive."

A federal Drug Enforcement Administration news release placed a 
$200,000 per pound value on Mexican brown heroin.

"That's what a DEA agent told me when I talked to them about us 
finding heroin down here," Pitcher said. "He immediately said that we 
must have some families with money, and that agent was from another 
part of the country and didn't know anything about White River Township."

According to Indianapolis police, Hispanic drug trafficking usually 
is a daylight operation. "They rent an apartment or house and only 
deal with other dealers," Pitcher said. Thursday's raid also 
uncovered meticulous records of drug sales.

"From these, we know they have been operating for about a year," 
Pitcher said. "We're pretty sure this will end the heroin pipeline 
from Indianapolis to White River Township -- at least for now."
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