Archive for 02/15/10

Black-tar heroin, a potent, inexpensive, semi-processed form of the drug that has spread across the United States,

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: Black-tar heroin, a potent, inexpensive, semi-processed form of the drug that has spread across the United States,
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Black-tar heroin, a potent, inexpensive, semi-processed form of the drug that has spread across the United States, driven by the entrepreneu...

Black-tar heroin, a potent, inexpensive, semi-processed form of the drug that has spread across the United States, driven by the entrepreneurial energy and marketing savvy of immigrants from a tiny farming county in Mexico.Immigrants from Xalisco, in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, Mexico, have brought the heroin north over the last decade, and with it a highly effective business model featuring deep discounts and convenient delivery by car. Their success is a major reason why Mexican black tar has seized a growing share of the U.S. heroin market, according to government estimates. 
Xalisco networks are decentralized, with no all-powerful boss, and they largely avoid guns and violence. Staying clear of the nation's largest cities, where established organizations control the heroin trade, Xalisco dealers have cultivated markets in the mountain states and parts of the Midwest and Appalachia, often creating demand for heroin in cities and towns where there had been little or none. In many of those places, authorities report a sharp rise in heroin overdoses and deaths.Before the string of fatal overdoses in 2007, "we didn't even consider heroin an issue," said Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook. 
Xalisco dealers have been particularly successful in areas where addiction to prescription painkillers like OxyContin was widespread. Many of those addicts, mainly young middle- and working-class whites, switched to black tar, which is cheaper and more powerful.In York County, S.C., pain-pill addicts became hooked on black tar purchased in Charlotte, N.C., half an hour away. "We used to get maybe one overdose death a year" caused by opiates, said Marvin Brown, commander of the county's drug unit. "We had six in the first six months" of 2009.In the suburbs south of Salt Lake City, heroin was unheard of until dealers from Xalisco arrived, said Lt. Phil Murphy of the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force. Now, he said, young people looking for an alternative to pain pills drive to Salt Lake to score black-tar heroin. 
University towns have been especially fertile markets for Xalisco heroin. Authorities in Boulder and Fort Collins, Colo. -- home to the University of Colorado and Colorado State University, respectively -- report increased overdoses caused by black-tar heroin purchased from dealers in Denver.Ohio has also become a center of Xalisco networks, and it was through a junkie in Columbus that black tar made its way to Huntington.

Black-tar heroin, a potent, inexpensive, semi-processed form of the drug that has spread across the United States,

Black-tar heroin, a potent, inexpensive, semi-processed form of the drug that has spread across the United States, driven by the entrepreneu...

Mohammed Umar, 36, was arrested for smuggling the white crystal powder, usually used as an anesthetic, inside a water heater he brought from India.

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: Mohammed Umar, 36, was arrested for smuggling the white crystal powder, usually used as an anesthetic, inside a water heater he brought from India.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Mohammed Umar, 36, was arrested for smuggling the white crystal powder, usually used as an anesthetic, inside a water heater he brought from...

Mohammed Umar, 36, was arrested for smuggling the white crystal powder, usually used as an anesthetic, inside a water heater he brought from India. His attempt was foiled by the customs officers when he underwent a luggage check after disembarking from a Thai Airways flight at 3 p.m. local time from New Delhi.Customs service and monitoring head Bambang Wahyudi said Saturday that the suspect wrapped the drugs in plastic and hid it inside the water heater. 
The water heater was packed in a large cardboard box that the suspect brought through a scanner.  
“Why would he bring a used water heater to Bali? That’s what raised our officers’ suspicions. He also seemed very nervous,” Bambang said.The suspect said the water heater was to be donated to an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. He even showed officers an invoice for the water heater priced at 6,000 rupees. “The suspect was confused when officers asked him which school he wanted to donate to,” Bambang said.As the officers examined the water heater using an ion scan and opened the machine, they found the drugs. The suspect admitted he was under orders by someone identified as Jakfar, who resided in India. He said he was paid 5,000 rupees for transporting the drugs. He said Jakfar told him to find accomodation close to Ngurah Rai Airport while awaiting instructions.      “We tried since Thursday night to locate the recipients of the drug, but couldn’t find them. They may be aware of the arrest,” Bambang said. 
Ketamine, which has similar effects to crystal methamphetamine, is usually sold for Rp 1.5 million per gram. 
Bambang said that the suspect would be charged with violating the Health Law and could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and fines of Rp 1 billion. “We can’t charge the suspect with violating the Narcotics Law, because ketamine is not classified as a narcotic,” he said. In several countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Canada, ketamine is a class 1 narcotic, while in the US it is classified as a category 3 prescribed drug. 
 
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglC_WPAh4jMgCBiS1TXf-Dugbgd6fKvcc_GufGwEeDq-q-qdFrDjnsHA4y_kjV0c4Hji9lF_xD_x7HgeL6rBMWjzK1Cs1R5kHx3D2xDVl8cQtH4UkW6jO1Qf3cpeoevu5wiE4IYlcUxsQ/s1600-h/ketamine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglC_WPAh4jMgCBiS1TXf-Dugbgd6fKvcc_GufGwEeDq-q-qdFrDjnsHA4y_kjV0c4Hji9lF_xD_x7HgeL6rBMWjzK1Cs1R5kHx3D2xDVl8cQtH4UkW6jO1Qf3cpeoevu5wiE4IYlcUxsQ/s640/ketamine.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><blockquote>Bali is a magnet for foreign drug traffickers as the island has seen many cases of drug smuggling in the last couple of months.  </blockquote> 
Among the foreigners arrested in drugs cases were seven Iranians who attempted to smuggle 5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine by swallowing the drugs. 
 
Another Iranian, Shahbazi Saeid, was arrested for bringing in 200 grams of crystal methamphetamine in a similar way. 
 
Also in December, 48-year-old Australian Robert Paul McJannett was detained for attempting to smuggle 2 grams of marijuana. 
 
In January, the customs office arrested Malaysian woman Hoon Yue Chin for bringing in 0.62 grams of crystal meth. Several days later, French national Francois Virgile Arthur Sidoine was caught with 0.78 grams of heroine in his underwear. In the same month, two Malaysians, Chang Cheng Weng and Boo Guan Teik, were arrested for smuggling in 2 kilograms of crystal meth.

Mohammed Umar, 36, was arrested for smuggling the white crystal powder, usually used as an anesthetic, inside a water heater he brought from India.

Mohammed Umar, 36, was arrested for smuggling the white crystal powder, usually used as an anesthetic, inside a water heater he brought from...

ADDICTION UK

Black-tar heroin, a potent, inexpensive, semi-processed form of the drug that has spread across the United States,

Mohammed Umar, 36, was arrested for smuggling the white crystal powder, usually used as an anesthetic, inside a water heater he brought from India.

Sponsor

Contact Form