Updated: Pennsylvania Team Arrested At Holland Tunnel On Way To Rescue Drug Addicts

Posted June 22, 2016 8:39 PM ET; Last updated June 23, 2016 9:00 PM ET

Three people have been arrested outside a New York City tunnel after police found this huge cache of weapons in their vehicle. The collection included rifles, ballistic vests and a camouflage helmet.

[Updated June 23, 2016 9:00 PM ET]
[From article]
This is the tragic young mother-of-two whose fatal heroin overdose sparked the bungled rescue mission that ended in the arrest of three heavily armed Pennsylvania 'drug vigilantes'.
Sierra Schmitt, 20 - mom to four-year-old twin boys - was found dead in bed on Monday morning after she visited New York City to do drugs and party.
Close friend Jenea Patterson, 17, woke up next to Schmitt's body and made a panicked call to her former youth counselor, Kimberly Arendt - one of three self-styled heroin crusaders who set off to try to save her in a monster truck laden with guns.
Arendt, 29, was arrested near the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel on Tuesday along with John Cramsey, 50, and Dean Smith, 53, after cops pulled them over for a cracked windscreen and found a huge cache of firearms and ammo.

Kimberly Arendt (left), John Cramsey (center) and Dean Smith (right), appearing in Hudson County Court, New Jersey, via video link following their arrest outside New York's Holland Tunnel on Tuesday, were taken into custody as they drove to New York to rescue Patterson after she called Arendt in panic.

The trio - part of a group called 'Enough is Enough' that claims to save heroin-addled kids from pushers - were held on Wednesday on $75,000 cash bail after they were charged with weapons offences and possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

But in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online, Schmitt's mother Mandy Powell, 38, sprung to their defense, saying: 'These guys shouldn't be in jail - they are heroes not criminals.
'To do that for somebody else's child, I give them all the credit in the world. I just wish they could have got to my daughter in time.'


Schmitt's mother Mandy Powell, 38, sprung to the trio's defense, saying they should not be in jail and said she wished they got to her daughter sooner.

Powell had particular praise for ringleader Cramsey - a shooting range boss who lost his 20-year-old daughter Alexandria in February from an overdose of Fentanyl and heroin.
'He's right - enough is enough,' said Powell, a married rest area worker who raised Schmitt in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 'We've both lost a daughter and someone has to get on top of this.
'I'd never heard of any of them until their names came up on the news but they have my full support. I'd like to meet them and thank them for trying to make a difference.'
Schmitt and Patterson are believed to have headed to Brooklyn's Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood to meet two men for a weekend of drinking and hard partying.
It is believed that Schmitt was injected with a 'hotshot' - a strong dose of heroin that rendered her unconscious.
'As far as I know they were with two gentlemen,' said Powell, who said she was still trying to piece together the fateful events after speaking to police, the coroner, and exchanging messages with Patterson.
[. . .]
'Jenea told me the two guys made them shoot up,' she added. 'Sierra passed out and one of the guys apparently said: "We're not gonna have much fun with her".
Powell said her daughter went off the rails and turned to drugs and alcohol after losing custody of her twins.
'She loved them as much as any mom could. But she was too young, too immature, and she couldn't cope,' she said.
'After she lost them she started getting wild and going out. She was partying, drinking alcohol - she gave me a run for my money, that's for sure.
'She was hanging out with the wrong people and ended up going to New York more and more because of the fast-paced life.
'She started changing, she got angrier, more demanding - but she would still call me faithfully every day. She was still my loving daughter.
'Sierra never kept anything from me and about half a year ago she told me she used heroin. She had been clean for a month - and then this happened.
'She was outgoing, she loved everyone, but she was too trusting. I just need to know what happened in that room.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3657030/Mother-20-year-old-heroin-overdose-sparked-rescue-ended-arrest-three-heavily-armed-drug-vigilantes-jumps-defend-trio-heroes-not-criminals.html

EXCLUSIVE: 'I just wish they could have got to my daughter in time': Mother of 20-year-old whose heroin overdose sparked a rescue attempt that ended in the arrest of three armed 'drug vigilantes' defends the trio as 'heroes, not criminals'
Sierra Schmitt, 20 - mom to four-year-old twin boys - was found dead in bed next to close friend Jenea Patterson, 17, on Monday morning
Schmitt and Patterson had visited New York City to do drugs and party
When Patterson found Schmitt's body, she called her former youth counselor, Kimberly Arendt
Arendt was one of three self-styled heroin crusaders who set off to try to save her in a monster truck laden with guns and were later arrested
Arendt, 29, was arrested near the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel on Tuesday along with John Cramsey, 50, and Dean Smith, 53
The trio is part of a group called 'Enough is Enough' that claims to save heroin-addled kids from pushers
Schmitt's mother Mandy Powell, 38, sprung to their defense, saying: 'These guys shouldn't be in jail - they are heroes not criminals'
By BEN ASHFORD IN WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:58 EST, 23 June 2016 | UPDATED: 18:37 EST, 23 June 2016

* * *

[Posted June 22, 2016 8:39 PM ET]
[From article]

The gun range owner who was arrested alongside two others outside of a New York City tunnel with a cache of weapons turned into a self-styled vigilante after tragically losing his 20-year-old daughter to a heroin overdose this year.
John Cramsey, 50, who runs Higher Ground Tactical in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, was with Dean Smith, 52, and 29-year-old Kimberly Arendt when they were pulled over outside the Holland Tunnel on Tuesday.
Authorities first stopped the group for a cracked windshield, before multiple loaded guns, rifles, knives, ballistic vests and a camouflage helmet were discovered.
When questioned, they described themselves as self-styled vigilantes, according to reports, and were on their way to a Brooklyn hotel where they wanted to 'extract' a teenager from a bad situation that possibly involved heroin.
The trio was detained on the four-month anniversary of the day Cramsey's daughter, Alexandria 'Lexii' Cramsey, died of a heroin and fentanyl overdose.
The 20-year-old girl, who passed away on February 21, was found with her boyfriend, Marquillis Calhoun, who was also dead inside of a Pennsylvania house.


They were detained on the four-month anniversary of the day Cramsey's daughter, Alexandria 'Lexii' Cramsey (pictured), died of a heroin overdose.


Following her death, the father consistently shared posts about it on Facebook and the battle against the drug.
In a post from February, he described himself as 'an addict' for his late-daughter, who worked as a professional model with three agencies in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Mexico.
'Now, I want to personally address the confusion of why we proudly display the 'SHOOT YOUR LOCAL HEROIN DEALER' decals,' Cramsey wrote. 'Who are you to judge me for my opinion.'
'Grow up and either get involved...or get out of here!' he added.
Cramsey also spoke in an interview not long after her death about visiting the place where she died in Allentown.
Just before he was arrested on Tuesday, Cramsey wrote on Facebook: 'I'm currently 11 miles outside of Brooklyn New York and going to a hotel to extract a 16 year old girl who went up there to Party with a few friends.
'One of those friends she went up there with will not be returning.
'This young lady from Wilkes Barre is scared and wants to come home. Last night she woke to find her friends body next to her in the same bed were her friend died of another heroin overdose.
'The Child named [censored] and she is from the Wilkes Barre area.
'A Facebook message to the Mother and the Brother with no response yet. I'm bringing her out of NY today and anybody else in that hotel that wants to go home too.'
Cramsey is believed to have tried to make similar rescues in the past few months.


Cramsey is believed to have made similar 'rescues' in recent months.

A picture of the fluorescent Dodge truck believed to be involved shows it covered with logos for the gun range. A sign in the back window reads: 'We The People'.
When Daily Mail Online reached Higher Ground Tactical by phone, they said they had heard something about the arrest but couldn't comment any further.
Around 2,000 rounds of ammunition were also discovered inside, according to reports.
One of the gun clips had 'Merica' written on and another had 'United We Stand'.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force is assisting in the investigation.
They said there was 'no nexus to terrorism,' according to NBC New York.
Law enforcement sources said they were 'gun authorities.'
Authorities believe the suspects were in possession of the firearms as part of criminal activity, likely heroin related.
Drugs were also found in the vehicle along with the guns, according to one law enforcement official.
One of the suspects allegedly told officers they were on their way to Queens.
A source initially told CBS New York they were going to shoot a rival dealer.
suspects reportedly said they wanted to save a friend who is on heroin and being held against her will in Brooklyn.
Police are still working to verify their story and the investigation is ongoing.
The Holland Tunnel carries Interstate 78 under the Hudson River and connects Jersey City with Manhattan.
It is one of the busiest commuter routes into New York City.
More than 34million vehicles use it every year.
A Port Authority spokesman told Daily Mail Online: 'Astute Port Authority Police work led to the stoppage of a vehicle on the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel this morning, leading to the arrest of three individuals from the state of Pennsylvania on a variety of charges related to illegal possession of guns and ammunition.
'At this time, the investigation is continuing, but the agency does not believe the incident is terrorism-related
'At about 07.40 hours a motor vehicle was stopped by Port Authority Police at the Holland Tunnel, NJ Toll Plaza for an equipment violation (cracked windshield).
'Multiple weapons (Rifles and handguns) some loaded. Under arrest are 2 males in their 50's and a female in her 20's. Charges are pending.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3653362/Trio-stopped-Holland-Tunnel-huge-cache-weapons-self-styled-vigilantes-seeking-revenge-teen-s-heroin-death-heading-free-girl-force-drug-den.html

Revealed: How tragic heroin overdose of model daughter, aged 20, prompted her father to become a self-styled vigilante who attempts to rescue others from the drug
John Cramsey, 50, the owner of Higher Ground Tactical, was arrested
Was driving from Pennsylvania with Dean Smith and Kimberly Arendt
They were heading to pick up another girl in a drug den when they were stopped by officers before reaching the tunnel
Were initially pulled over in New Jersey for a cracked windshield
However cops found a huge collection of weapons and armor inside
Cramsey wrote on Facebook earlier that he was going to 'extract' a girl
Claimed a 16-year-old was from Pennsylvania was scared in Brooklyn
He started fighting against heroin after his daughter died four months ago from an overdose with her boyfriend
By WILLS ROBINSON and REGINA F. GRAHAM FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:58 EST, 21 June 2016 | UPDATED: 12:17 EST, 22 June 2016

Xanax Joins Opioid Abuses As Dangerous Drug

Photo: Shutterstock

[From article]
Minnesota’s wrestling program is being investigated internally and by campus police after an anonymous wrestler alleged that teammates were using and selling Xanax. Coach J Robinson was placed on paid administrative leave June 1 by new athletics director Mark Coyle.
[. . .]
Overdose benzodiazepine deaths are growing, Lee said, but that’s not the only frightening thing about benzodiazepine addiction. For one thing, one’s tolerance for drugs such as Xanax increases quickly and by leaps and bounds, as Dimler can attest.
Dimler had tried Xanax in high school, he said, but just once. “It didn’t do much for me,” he said. So when, as a freshman at Macalester, a friend suggested he try it to help him sleep, he didn’t think twice. He took 1 milligram, four times the usually prescribed dosage.
[. . .]
Perhaps even more dangerous is the fact that, like alcohol, benzodiazepines can cause blackouts, which is how Dimler came to be in police custody. In a sense, he was lucky. Blackout behavior on drugs like Xanax can be dangerous.
[. . .]
“It’s incredibly dangerous, and as with alcohol, you don’t have to be addicted to have a blackout.”
[. . .]
“His senior year (in high school), he had secondary enrollment at Northwestern College; he already had 34 college credits when he graduated,” she said. “He had a 16-dollar-an hour job. He had a girlfriend for four and a half years. Then he went to Macalester and within three months was fully and completely addicted to Xanax.”
There is no training component to taking Xanax, which often is taken to increase the effect of other drugs to which users already are becoming tolerant. For Dimler, it was marijuana. For others, Lee notes, it might be heroin. Suddenly, a user is addicted to two drugs.
After being academically suspended at Macalester at the end of the first semester in December, Dimler was off the football team and out of hope. Xanax, he said, had “robbed me of all motivation.”
He enrolled at Century College but didn’t go to class, just took Xanax and smoked marijuana. By then, Dimler estimates, he was spending up to $1,500 a month on Xanax, buying from acquaintances, or strangers on the street at the corner of Snelling and University avenues in the Midway neighborhood.
When the money ran out, Dimler sold some of his own pills, something Lee notes is common.
“People shouldn’t jump so quickly to conclusions,” Lee said. “It sounds horrible — ‘dealing drugs.’ But you’d be surprised to see how many kids are involved with dealing prescription drugs on college campuses. If it’s finals, and your friend is struggling, you have an extra Adderall and sell it for five bucks, you just dealt drugs.
[. . .]



James Johnson, manager of addiction care for HealthEast in St. Paul, said the majority of patients he sees are abusing prescription drugs.
“What we hear from our young adults is it’s easier to get those kinds of drugs than alcohol and nicotine, because people are checking for those,” Johnson said.
They’re also easier to obtain than opioids and cheap; Dimler said he was buying bars for $5, and Lee said that price can be as low as $2.
Lee said benzodiazepines, real and counterfeit, are easily available on the illicit Internet marketplace known as “the dark web.” Using a program that will disguise a computer’s IP address, virtually anyone can buy drugs online without a prescription and have them delivered anywhere.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Xanax bars out there,” he said. “It’s such a craze that kids are getting wise to counterfeiters that are using pill pressers to create fakes that look like Xanax bars.”
According to data compiled by Carol Falkowski, founder of Drug Abuse Dialogues in St. Paul, alprazolam was the 10th-most prescribed drug in the Twin Cities in 2014-15. In an April report called Twin Cities Drug Abuse Trends, alprazolam is listed sixth among drugs seized by law enforcement over the same period.
If not for his run-in with police, Dimler might still have been using, or worse, instead of graduating from a two-month treatment program in South Minneapolis.
The plan is to move in with his mother, get a job and ultimately go back to school in the fall or spring, maybe at Augsburg, maybe the University of Minnesota. He has a pre-trial hearing July 12 to address his arrest on fourth-degree driving while impaired.
Dimler acknowledges that he once “had everything going for me.” A starting defensive end on the Macalester football team as a freshman, he had a scholarship worth $63,000 a year. Had he applied himself, he said, he could have earned a valuable degree from one of the country’s most respected schools.

http://nypost.com/2016/06/09/xanax-is-ruining-peoples-lives/

Xanax is ruining people’s lives
By Associated Press
New York Post
June 9, 2016 | 2:39pm

Major Heroin, Cocaine Bust in Keene, NH

Drugs, weapons seized

[video embedded]
[From article]
Eight arrests were made over a five-day period in what authorities said may be the largest single seizure of heroin in state history.
After a two-year investigation, federal state and local officials said they have cracked a large-scale heroin and cocaine trafficking organization that started in Lawrence, Massachusetts, funneled drugs through Salem and fed directly to the Keene area.
"It has been the mission of federal state and local law enforcement partners to stop this problem at its source by shutting down the pipeline through which heroin enters the state of New Hampshire," said U.S. Attorney John Kacavas. "And today, I am pleased to announce that one of these pipelines has been shut down."
Police said eight people were charged in connection with the case, including Ross Gould, 28, of Richmond, who authorities identified as the leader of the operation. Authorities said drugs and firearms were seized from his home.
Officials said they confiscated 3.5 kilos of heroin, the largest seizure of its kind in state history.
"The Gould drug trafficking organization has been operating in the Keene area for some five years and distributing nearly a kilo of heroin every 10 days on the street," Kacavas said.
Authorities said the amount of heroin and cocaine taken off the streets through the investigation is valued well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Stephanie Bergeron, of Serenity Place, in Manchester, said more than 80 percent of their clients are addicted to heroin.
"It really is a significant victory for our state," Bergeron said. "When you look at the big picture for a number of reasons, for public safety, crime, it's a huge victory, but it certainly does not eliminate the drug problem."
They said the problem of drug addiction in the state is only getting worse.

http://www.wmur.com/news/us-attorney-heroin-cocaine-ring-in-keene-area-broken-up/31865964

US attorney: Heroin, cocaine ring in Keene area broken up
8 arrests made after undercover drug buys, officials say
UPDATED 10:58 PM EDT Mar 18, 2015

* * *

http://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/multi-agency-force-makes-big-drug-busts-last-week

Multi-Agency Force Makes Big Drug Busts Last Week
Drug task forces make busts in Keene after buys in Salem; take weapons, 3.5 kilos of heroin, cocaine off New Hampshire streets.
Concord, NH
By TONY SCHINELLA (Patch Staff)

March 18, 2015 4:51 pm ET

ABC Reports on Opioid OD Deaths

ABC reported that every 25 minutes an addicted baby is born. And there is one OD death a day from heroin in New Hampshire.

http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2016-03/11-031116-breaking-point-heroin-in-america
20/20March 2016

03/11/16

Breaking Point: Heroin in America
Man Addicted to Heroin Could Lose Family If He Doesn’t Recover; Surviving 48 Hours Until Rehab.

ABC News

Love Is the Answer, How To Fight Heroin Abuse

“It's a regional and national and international issue if you’re talking about stopping the drug trade,” said City Councillor Jan Devereux. Councilor Devereux is correct, no will to curb massive import of drugs to supply the enormous appetite of Americans. Council can pass resolutions to close the southern border and to increase strict oversight of goods entering the USA. But the best and only answer is, "All you need is love."
[. . .]
[Devereux: other methods of combating the epidemic are beyond municipal control.]

City Council can pass law requiring a Narcan capsule to be included with all sales of heroin or oxycodone pills.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/25/cambridge-opium-crisis-council/

Cambridge Discusses Plans for Overdose Treatment
By JOSHUA J. FLORENCE and SAMUEL VASQUEZ,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

February 25, 2016

Massachusetts Officials Address Opioid, Heroin Deaths

60 Minutes rebroadcast "Heroin in The Heartland" Jan. 24, 2016 [original broadcast November 1, 2015]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heroin-in-the-heartland-60-minutes/

showing same pattern in Ohio. One nurse, whose daughter died from an OD, explained young people began with pills purchased illegally. They moved on to heroin because it is cheaper. The medical profession decided last generation to try to eliminate all pain, which explains over prescribing of pain killers. The MA AG did not include prevention in her plans. Why is so much heroin available so cheaply? Do open borders have any role?

[From article]
What’s striking in this documentary about addiction is who isn’t shown. There are no cops interviewed, no doctors, no experts offering easy answers, and no politicians.
[. . .]
[MA AG Maura] Healey said[. . .] “But if we continue to press on education and intervention and treatment, we’ll be in a better place.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160124/NEWS/160129121/?Start=1

Column: Scrambling for solutions as opioid epidemic spreads
By Rick Holmes
GateHouse Media Columnist
Posted Jan. 24, 2016 at 10:13 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Springfield, MA Police Seize 9,000 Bags of Heroin In Major Drug Bust

[From article]
Springfield narcotics detectives seized 9,000 bags of heroin with the "Hollywood" stamp Saturday night, after this particular batch has been cited as being the cause of several overdose deaths throughout the region in the past few days.
Sgt. John Delaney, public information officer for the Springfield Police Department, said detectives under the direction of Lt. Alberto Ayala, Sgt. Christopher Hitas and Detective Gregg Bigda conducted an investigation Saturday evening at 10 p.m. which resulted in four arrests.
With cooperation from the Forest Park C-3 Policing Unit under the direction of Sgt. Reggie Miller, detectives intercepted several deliveries in Springfield and arrested dealers from Holyoke, Chicopee and North Adams, Delaney said.
The detectives then concentrated on the source and tailed another delivery where they confiscated 8,000 bags hidden in a fake bumper. This arrest took place at the corner of Sumner and Ormand streets in Springfield.
[. . .]
A total of 9,000 bags of heroin were confiscated along with $20,000 in cash, according to police. All those arrested will be held over the weekend until they are arraigned in Springfield District Court on Monday, Delaney said.
Because of the recent heroin overdoses, the Springfield Police Department took over this case and determined through an investigation that they have found the source of the deadly batch of heroin being sold in Western Massachusetts, Delaney said.
Police Commissioner John Barbieri praised the great work by the Narcotics Officers "to rid the City of Hollywood' bags of heroin."

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/springfield_police_seize_9000.html

After several fatal overdoses across Pioneer Valley, Springfield police seize 9,000 bags of 'Hollywood heroin'
By Elizabeth Roman | eroman (at) repub.com
January 03, 2016 at 10:30 AM, updated January 03, 2016 at 1:32 PM

US Deaths From Drug Overdoses Continue to Increase

[From article]
American deaths from drug overdoses hit a record high in 2014, propelled by abuse of prescription painkillers and heroin, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.
[. . .]
“The increasing number of deaths from opioid overdose is alarming,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said Friday in a statement. “The opioid epidemic is devastating American families and communities.”[. . .]
Lower heroin prices, wider availability and higher purity are causing more overdoses, the agency reported. It recommends stricter guidelines for prescribing pain killers, expanded availability and wider access to naloxone, an antidote for opioid-related overdoses.

http://nypost.com/2015/12/18/american-deaths-from-drug-overdoses-hit-record-high/

American deaths from drug overdoses hit record high
By Reuters
New York Post
December 18, 2015 | 5:49pm

Team Of Suspected Springfield, MA Heroin Dealers Arrested

ILL-GOTTEN: Stacks of cash totaling more than $12,000, heroin, guns and ammunition were confiscated in Springfield.
Photo by: Springfield Police Dept

[From article]
Two Springfield police “raid teams” conducted simultaneous searches Tuesday evening at the Galanis’ Los Angeles Street home, which they say was used as a “safe house,” and at a “distribution house” on Kenwood Park, according to Springfield police Sgt. John Delaney.
The searches turned up 1,584 bags of “El Chapo” heroin, $12,816 in cash, a .30-caliber fully automatic rifle, a .32-caliber revolver, a .38-caliber revolver handgun, a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun, a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun, a sawed-off shotgun and a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, Delaney said.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/06/springfield_cops_say_family_ran_drug_business

Springfield cops say family ran drug business
Thursday, June 18, 2015
By: Owen Boss

Boston Herald

NYPD Seizes One Million Bags of Heroin

JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
(From l.) Jonathan Almonte, Orlando Rosario-Concepcion, Jean Carlos Rosario-Ortiz and Rodolofo Abreu-Crisotomo appear at their arraignments on Friday. They and a fifth man, Deckson Holguin-Rosario (not in photo) were arrested and charged with running a major heroin supply chain.

[From article]

“Sadly, an untimely death from a heroin overdose triggered this investigation, but as a result our collaborative efforts prevented more than a million bags of heroin from hitting the streets,” said Special Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan whose office is prosecuting the case.
Concepcion’s drug-trafficking operation, based out of the Bronx mill and another location in Washington Heights, supplied dealers locally, Upstate and on Long Island, court papers show.

http://nypost.com/2015/05/30/cops-seize-over-a-million-bags-of-heroin-in-drug-bust/

Cops seize over a million bags of heroin in drug bust
By Rebecca Rosenberg
New York Post
May 30, 2015 | 1:17am

Major Heroin Bust in Bronx, NY, Enough For All In New York City

Yenci Cruz Francisco, top, and Jose Mercedes, aka “Hippie," with their product

This must be what the White House means when they say the economy has recovered. 

[From article]

“To put it in perspective, this load was so large it carried the potential of supplying a dose of heroin to every man, woman and child in New York City,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.
Authorities said the mammoth stash, tucked away in the bowels of a large SUV, was just one in a series of shipments slated for delivery throughout the five boroughs, as well as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
This particularly shipment — a massive load of narcotics and cash — was recovered from a vehicle and an apartment in the Fieldston section of the Bronx, not far from Horace Mann School, where children sit in class every day, and adjacent to Van Cortlandt Park, where families are just beginning to enjoy the warm weather.
[. . .]
A day before the arrests, agents tracked a Chevrolet Suburban and a Honda Accord driven by Mercedes, Cruz Francisco and a third crew member from the Bronx site to a parking lot in Montville, NJ, where tractor-trailers were parked.
More than an hour later, the vehicles headed back to the Bronx. The next morning, cops stopped Mercedes as he tried to pull away in the SUV, and searched the vehicle.
A hidden compartment under the floor of the vehicle contained 70 rectangular-shaped kilogram packages of heroin labeled with the identifying name of “Rolex.” Also inside the vehicle was $24,000 cash.
Agents conducted a series of court authorized searches at apartments associated with the group. Inside the West 251st Street apartment, agents recovered $2 million from underneath the floorboards.

http://nypost.com/2015/05/19/cops-make-largest-heroin-bust-in-new-york-history/

Cops make largest heroin seizure in New York history
By Larry Celona and David K. Li
New York Post
May 19, 2015 | 11:47am

Two Hundred Massachusetts Heroin Overdose Deaths Reported

[From article]
Massachusetts state police are reporting more than 200 suspected heroin overdose deaths during the first three months of this, a figure that doesn't even include the state's three largest cities.
According to the statistics provided by the state police, there were 72 suspected heroin overdose deaths in March. The totals for the first two months of the year were similar: 72 deaths in February and 73 in January.
Among the March deaths, 54 were men and 18 women. The average age of those who died was 36.
The 217 fatalities were recorded in every region of Massachusetts, but state police noted they don't keep the records of suspected heroin deaths in Boston, Worcester and Springfield, so the statewide total was almost certainly higher.
[. . .]
The state Department of Public Health previously reported 978 overdose deaths related to opioids in Massachusetts in 2013, up from 668 the previous year. Figures for last year weren't available

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/04/217_suspected_massachusetts_heroin_overdose_deaths_this_year

217 suspected Massachusetts heroin overdose deaths this year
Thursday, April 2, 2015
By: Associated Press
Boston Herald

Dangerous Drugs Need To be Studied. New Idea In Massachusetts

Deaths from dangerous drug overdoses is one more public safety issue for which politicians commission studies by consultants. It keeps the otherwise academic theoreticians employed and is a way to spend taxpayer funds without killing the jobs. 



[From article]
A task force created by Gov. Charlie Baker to tackle the state's heroin and prescription drug abuse crisis is getting to work.
The 17-member panel will hold a public meeting on Tuesday in Worcester, the first of four around the state.
Baker has called the overdose epidemic a public health emergency and one of the top priorities of his administration. He's asking the task force to report back to him by the end of May with strategies for dealing with addiction, treatment and recovery.
State officials say there were 978 opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts last year, a 46 percent increase over the previous year.
Tuesday's session will be held at Quinsigamond Community College. The other meetings are scheduled for March 19 in Greenfield, March 26 in Plymouth and April 2 in Boston.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/03/panel_to_hold_1st_public_meeting_on_overdose_epidemic

Panel to hold 1st public meeting on overdose epidemic
Saturday, March 7, 2015
By: Associated Press
Boston Herald

Mexican Drug Cartels Focus On Heroin

In this Jan. 26, 2015 photo, a farmer stands in his poppy field in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains of Guerrero state, Mexico. The heroin trade is a losing prospect for everyone except the Mexican cartels, who have found a new way to make money in the face of falling cocaine consumption and marijuana legalization in the United States. 

(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
[From article]
The heroin trade is a losing prospect for everyone except the Mexican cartels, who have found a new way to make money in the face of falling cocaine consumption and marijuana legalization in the United States. Once smaller-scale producers of low-grade black tar, Mexican drug traffickers are now refining opium paste into high-grade white heroin and flooding the world's largest market for illegal drugs, using the distribution routes they built for marijuana and cocaine.
It is a business that even the farmers don't like. In a rare interview with reporters, the villagers told The Associated Press that it's too difficult to ship farm products on roads so rough and close to the sky that cars are in constant danger of tumbling off the single-lane dirt roads that zig-zag up to the fields. They say the small plastic-wrapped bricks of gummy opium paste are the only thing that will guarantee them a cash income.
[. . .]
According to the DEA's 2014 National Drug Threat Assessment, Mexico produces nearly half of the heroin found in the United States, up from 39 percent in 2008. While Afganistan is by far the world's largest producer, it largely sends to markets in Europe and Asia.
[. . .]
Since 2012, Guerrero has been Mexico's most violent state. But only recently has it gotten world attention, when 43 college students disappeared last September and are assumed murdered by the Guerreros Unidos, who had close ties to the mayor in the town of Iguala and reportedly viewed the students as a rival gang.
[. . .]
But a buyer affiliated with the local gang lives in almost every village, acting also as a lookout. Most can be identified by the short-wave radios they carry in a region far from telephone lines or cellular towers.

http://news.yahoo.com/mexican-opium-farmers-expand-plots-supply-us-heroin-145711238.html

Mexican opium farmers expand plots to supply US heroin boom
By MARK STEVENSON
February 2, 2015

Major Drug Bust in Northern New Jersey

[From article]
31 individuals who were part of a drug operation that sold more than $1 million narcotics have been arrested after a 3-month long investigation. 518 bricks of heroin were seized in a raid on Sunday in connection with this investigation.
[. . .]
Suspects from Newark, Belleville, Bloomfield, Boonton, Hopatcong, Clifton, Edgewater, Lyndhurst, North Arlington and Rutherford were arrested and charged with multiple narcotics offenses.
[. . .]
The drug operation trafficked narcotics within the Route 21 corridor. 26 law enforcement agencies in Essex, Bergen, Middlesex, and Morris counties worked together to bring down the ring, according to a statement released today by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
[. . .]
Among those arrested was Michael Keeler, 41, of Rutherford, an employee of the U.S. Post Service; and Josephine Heatherly, 33, of North Arlington, an employee of the Youth Consultation Service, a nonprofit that provides assistance to parents and children in crisis.

More than $71,000 in currency and nine vehicles was among the assets seized during the Sunday morning arrests and searches, according to Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray.
[. . .]
The Sunday morning raids were made throughout Essex, Union, Sussex, Bergen, Middlesex, Morris and Passaic Counties.

http://patch.com/new-jersey/southorange/essex-police-bust-new-jersey-drug-ring-sold-1-million-heroin-and-narcotics

Essex Police Bust New Jersey Drug Ring That Sold $1 Million in Heroin and Narcotics
26 law enforcement agencies worked together to take down this drug operation in several raids Sunday, confiscating 518 bricks of heroin.
By Emily Everson (Patch Staff)
Updated November 24, 2014 at 3:57 pm

* * *

[From article]
uthorities have accused seven people in connection with two heroin mills that they said were run out of apartments in Paterson, New Jersey.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/11/24/7-indicted-in-connection-with-2-heroin-mills-in-paterson/

Dozens Arrested In Newark, Paterson Heroin Busts
November 24, 2014 8:13 PM

Afghanistan Poppy Cultivation At All Time High, After $7.6 billion Taxpayer Funded Campaign

An Afghan farmer works on a poppy field in the Khogyani district of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan
Photo: AP

[From article]
Cultivation of the illegal poppy plant in Afghanistan has reached an “all time high” following a $7.6 billion counternarcotics campaign paid for by the United States, according to government oversight investigators.
Despite the spending to combat growth of the poppy plant, which is used to make drugs such as opium and heroin, cultivation has reached an “all time high,” especially in places once declared “poppy free,” according to new report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
“After a decade of reconstruction and over $7 billion in counternarcotics efforts, poppy cultivation levels are at an all-time high,” SIGAR concluded in its report released Wednesday.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/afghan-poppy-cultivation-at-all-time-high/

Afghan Poppy Cultivation at ‘All-Time High’
SIGAR: U.S. has spent $7.6B on counternarco ops
BY: Adam Kredo
October 21, 2014 10:00 am

Heroin For Votes in Texas

[From article]
A campaign manager working in the south Texas town of Donna has been charged with buying votes in a school board election by paying voters with cash and cocaine, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The indictment said Francisco Garcia, 47, who managed campaigns for four candidates for the Donna School Board in the November 2012 election, bought votes and worked with other campaign workers to pay voters by giving them either $10 or a small bag of cocaine if they voted for his slate.
Garcia was charged with conspiring to buy votes, paying for votes and aiding and abetting others to buy votes, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/trending/feed/campaign-manager-charged-buying-texas-school-board-votes-cocaine

Posted September 24, 2014 - 11:15amUpdated September 24, 2014 - 11:04pm
Campaign manager charged with buying Texas school board votes with cocaine
By JIM FORSYTH
REUTERS

Cambridge City Councilor Withdraws Suggestion To Legalize Cocaine

[From article]
“When Leland was young and stupid, he was young and stupid,” spokesman Frank Perullo told the Herald when asked if Cheung ever used cocaine, heroin or marijuana.


Cambridge MA City Councilor, Leland Cheung

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2014/08/cheung_sounds_like_bush_after_drug_remarks_on_reddit

Cheung sounds like Bush after drug remarks on Reddit
Saturday, August 9, 2014
By: Matt Stout
Boston Herald

Former Google Executive Left For Dead By Prostitute, After Heroin Abuse

[From article]
A high-end prostitute injected lethal doses of heroin into a former Google executive before callously stepping over his body, downing a final swig of wine and then leaving him to die about his yacht, officials said.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported Tuesday that surveillance video from the boat shows 51-year-old Forrest Timothy Hayes losing consciousness.
Investigators say the suspect, Alix Catherine Tichelman, makes no effort to help Hayes and instead gathers her belongings and even gulps a glass of wine before leaving.
[. . .]
Police say Tichelman provided heroin for Hayes and the pair met through ‘sugar daddy’ website SeekingArrangement.com, according to News.com.au.
On her Facebook page, Tichelman describes herself as a model and make-up artist, and her social media posts include poems about heroin and her love of TV serial killer Dexter.
In an interview with Fixe Fetish magazine, Tichelman said: “I have always been attracted to the darker side.”
[. . .]
On her Facebook page she talks about plans to move to Atlanta, her love of concealed handguns, and on June 28th writes: “It’s really nice to talk with someone about killing sprees and murdering people in cold blood … they love it too. No judgement. Yay! F*** all that positivity bulls**t. Take a look around you. Life is hard and then you die.”

http://nypost.com/2014/07/09/hooker-accused-in-google-execs-overdose-death/

Hooker sipped wine & watched Google exec die on yacht: cops
By New York Post Wire Report
July 9, 2014 | 10:36am

Major Drug Bust in Massachusetts

[From article]
Juan E. Nunez, 37, of New York City, Jose Morales, 43, of Haverstraw, NY, and Alfredo D. Lopez, 33, of Van Nuys, Calif., were each charged with drug trafficking and conspiracy to violate drug laws at their arraignments at Lynn District Court on Friday, according to a spokeswoman for the Essex District Attorney.
Investigators believe the three men are part of a large drug trafficking network with ties to Mexico that distributes large amounts of heroin and meth to Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/06/three_men_arrested_with_drugs_worth_1m_cops_say

Three men arrested with drugs worth $1M, cops say
Saturday, June 7, 2014
By: Andrew Blom
Boston Herald