Pubdate: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 Source: Flint Journal (MI) Copyright: 2008 Flint Journal Contact: http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/836 Note: Prefers to print letters from people in the area of The Flint Journal Author: Shannon Murphy TRADE BOOMING ACROSS COUNTY - IN DRUGS MT. MORRIS - Vicki McVay said it wasn't too long ago that she felt safe enough to walk to her job at a Saginaw Street gas station. Now, as police say the drug trade in the 1.2-square-mile city is skyrocketing, McVay's car is never far away. "I live three blocks away and would love to walk to work at 3:30 a.m.," she said. "But it's not gonna happen." The more than mile-long main road through town is becoming a haven for small-time drug dealers, said Mt. Morris Police Chief Keith Beaker. The city isn't the only one to experience an increase. Countywide, authorities are seeing drug activity in nearly every city. "The drug arrests have just been amazing," Becker said. "The economy is bad. Maybe it's easier for these small-timers to make a buck than to get a job." Not even a year ago, Mt. Morris police would call it a busy month if there were two drug seizures in a 30-day period. Now, Becker said, local cops are seizing two cars a week belonging to drug dealers and users, most of whom aren't residents of the city. "It's everywhere in the county," said Sheriff Robert J. Pickell, whose drug unit, the Posse, has seen a marked increase recently in heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs. The number of people arrested - a mix of repeat and new offenders - has remained fairly stable, but the quantity of drugs being found has risen as much as five times in some cases. What makes the increase in drugs even more unusual is that many dealers now are carrying a variety of drugs. In the past, a dealer might just sell heroin. But now, said Flint police Lt. Phil Smith, one dealer is likely to offer a variety of drugs. "It was uncommon to find crack and heroin side by side," he said. "Now they're like Wal-Mart; they've become more diversified." Mt. Morris, a city of 3,300, recently changed its local ordinance, allowing officials to prosecute small dealers with misdemeanors rather than wait for the county to prosecute. Big deals, Becker said, are usually handed off to Pickell's drug team. McVay said that while she hasn't seen a lot of the deals, she hears about them. And when she's at work, she said, she sees people she believes to be drug users and dealers walking up and down Saginaw Street. "The people that come in here, you can tell," she said. "They're wanting change for big bills." McVay also worries about other criminal activity as a result of the uptick in the drug trade. Last year, several area stores were robbed, and McVay said working weekends and nights at the gas station increases her fears that she could be a robbery victim. She has a point. Although statistics aren't kept on the correlation, burglaries and robberies typically follow increases in the drug business, said Flint police Lt. Phil Smith. It's not just cities such as Detroit or Flint, or those nearby such as Mt. Morris, that are seeing the jump in drug activity. In Fenton, Police Chief Rick Aro said arrests and seizures, mostly of young people dealing in small amounts, are going up. Officials warn that it's only a matter of time before communities that haven't seen a rise, such as Clio, are in the same situation as Mt. Morris or Fenton. "People shouldn't be surprised to see it in their area," said Lt. Mitch Krugielki, head of the Flint Area Narcotics Group. Krugielki said that last year was one of the most successful in terms of arrests and seizures the unit has ever had. FANG also has seen more dealers selling heroin and cocaine than in the past. Clio resident Sheryl Wheeler said the situation isn't bad in her community now, but she anticipates that problems might be coming. "I don't go into Mt. Morris at night because I heard it's getting bad there," she said. "I definitely expect it to come into Clio." [sidebar] FLINT-AREA DRUG SEIZURES RISING 2006 Arrests: 351 Cocaine (powder) seized: 7,982.6 grams Cocaine (crack): 1,411.1 grams Marijuana (processed): 365.73 pounds Heroin: 81.7 grams Ecstasy: 1,388 pills Total street value of drugs seized: $4,056,212 2007 Arrests: 342 Cocaine (powder) seized: 42,301 grams Cocaine (crack): 1,696.2 grams Marijuana (processed): 1,717.3 pounds Heroin: 146.88 grams Ecstasy: 2,324 pills Total street value of drugs seized: $8,209,932 Source: Flint Area Narcotics Group - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake