[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2127-E2128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HEROIN CRISIS STARTS IN COLOMBIA

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                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 1998

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, while the Administration has fought the 
Congress tooth and nail over the last few years to prevent the 
provision we wanted of high performance (greater lift and range 
capacity) and crash survivable as well as ballistically hardened 
helicopters to the Colombian National Police (CNP) excellent DANTI 
anti-narcotics unit in a real shooting war on drugs, something 
dramatically has happened on the heroin front here at home.
  In the last five years, first time teen (12-17) heroin use has risen 
a mind boggling 875%, and according to latest DEA seizure and street 
buy data, 75% of that heroin now comes from Colombia. So while the 
Administration slept, the Colombian narco-traffickers shifted gears and 
took over the former Asian dominated U.S. heroin market with cheaper, 
purer and more deadly South American heroin.
  The Washington Times outlined the recent U.S. move towards South 
American heroin in its edition yesterday in a extensive and 
comprehensive piece called ``Cocaine Cartels Take on New Product-
Heroin''. The article notes this Colombian heroin on the streets of the 
U.S. approaches (according to DEA) 70% to 80% purity, while the average 
of other heroin is only 39% purity. Our DEA, FBI and Customs Service 
agree that the best place to fight drugs is at the source, and in this 
case, it's the high Colombian Andes fields of opium

[[Page E2128]]

poppy, which the native people call the ``devils flower''.
  Sadly, the Times piece also notes that in nearby Prince Georges' 
county here in the Washington area, we have witnessed 42 persons who 
died last year form heroin overdoses. What's happening abroad, also has 
consequences here at home.
  From the front lines in the high Colombian Andes the news isn't any 
better. The CNP without high performance helicopters needed to reach 
the opium poppy fields with enough troops to secure the area for later 
aerial eradication is seeing more and more poppy. In 1997, according to 
some Colombian sources we may have had a 1/3 increase in Colombian 
opium growth, and at best we are only eradicating 1/3 of the small but 
ever growing and valuable poppy crop. All this means hard times and 
more overdose deaths in our communities from deadly Colombian heroin.
  Mr. Speaker, I request that the Washington Times article dated 10/12/
98 I referenced be included at this point in the Record:

               [From the Washington Times, Oct. 12, 1998]



              Cocaine Cartels Take on New Product--Heroin


    South American suppliers eclipse Asia in burgeoning U.S. market

                            (By Jerry Seper)

       South America's cocaine cartels have moved into a lucrative 
     new market, becoming the dominant force in supplying heroin 
     to a rapidly expanding clientele of eager U.S. buyers--many 
     as young as 15 years old.
       The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration details in a new 
     report that the agency calls a ``dramatic shift'' over the 
     past four years as South American drug traffickers have 
     wrested control of the U.S. heroin market from once-dominant 
     smugglers in Southeast Asia.
       About 75 percent of the heroin seized in 1997 throughout 
     the United States originated in South America, and the 
     numbers are expected to rise for 1998. By contrast, 97 
     percent of the heroin seized in the United States in 1991 
     came from dealers in Southeast or Southwest Asia, which now 
     accounts for only about 5 percent of the heroin shipped each 
     year into this country.
       Most of the increase comes form smugglers in Colombia, with 
     the drug being shipped clandestinely to buyers throughout the 
     country, particularly in Boston; New York; Newark, N.J.; 
     Philadelphia; and Baltimore--a region known as ``Heroin 
     Alley.''
       DEA Administrator Thomas A. Constantine said Colombian 
     cartel leaders, working with Mexican-based drug traffickers, 
     have made management decisions over the past four years aimed 
     at increasing their share of the U.S. heroin market.
       ``The situation we face today, one of high rates of trauma 
     in our hospital emergency rooms and high mortality rates 
     among heroin users, was brought about by strategic management 
     decisions made by both Colombian- and Mexican-based 
     trafficking organizations to increase their respective shares 
     of the lucrative U.S. heroin market,'' Mr. Constantine said.
       Of the more than 6 tons of heroin produced in 1997 in 
     Colombia, virtually the entire stock was delivered to buyers 
     in the United States. Colombia, which already supplies about 
     80 percent of the world's cocaine, has become both a grower 
     and processor of opium poppies in Bolivia and Peru, which are 
     then refined in jungle labs under the protection of highly 
     paid left-wing guerrillas.
       Colombia's new president, Andres Pastrana, has vowed to 
     step up his country's fight against drugs--a promise in sharp 
     contrast to efforts by his predecessor, Ernesto Samper, who 
     accepted $6 million from drug smugglers to help finance his 
     1994 election campaign.
       ``Traffickers today know no national boundaries and will 
     utilize the latest technologies and delivery systems to 
     enhance their illicit activities,'' Mr. Constantine said, 
     noting that Colombian-based smugglers drew on the expertise 
     of drug chemists in Southwest and Southeast Asia to produce 
     the higher-quality product flooding the East Coast.
       Mr. Constantine said Mexican drug traffickers are working 
     with Colombian chemists to increase the purity level of 
     Mexican-produced heroin to ``expand their markets in the 
     United States.''
       The DEA report said there are two general U.S. heroin 
     markets:
        One centered on the East Coast, supplying a high-
     purity, white powder heroin that can be snorted as well as 
     injected.
        One in the West, specializing in injectable-
     quality heroin, primarily Mexican black tar.
       The Office of National Drug Control Policy has estimated 
     that 810,000 hard-core drug addicts are involved in the use 
     of heroin as their principal drug of choice, and that the 
     high-quality South American product has spawned a new breed 
     of users--those more amenable to snorting rather than 
     injecting the drug.
       Records show increasing numbers of young people are 
     becoming involved--particularly in Philadelphia, St. Louis 
     and New Orleans, where about 12 percent of those arrested 
     were between 15 and 20.
       Locally, both Montgomery and Prince George's counties have 
     seen the number of addicts entering rehabilitation centers 
     double and triple in recent years, averaging about 500 a 
     year. Prince William County treated about 70 persons for 
     heroin use from July 1997 to June 1998. The total for that 
     period has not yet been tallied for comparably sized Howard 
     County, but authorities expect it to exceed 250.
       Last year, heroin overdoses killed 42 persons in Prince 
     George's County.
       The DEA has tracked the increasing dominance of South 
     American heroin since 1993 and, according to the report, has 
     found that the purity of the product appears to be its draw. 
     While the national average purity of all heroin is about 38 
     percent, South American heroin--of that confiscated in New 
     York, Boston, Newark, Baltimore and Philadelphia--registers 
     between 70 and 80 percent pure.
       In 1996, Baltimore led the nation in hospital emergency 
     room admissions for heroin overdoses and was second only to 
     San Francisco last year. Of the 401 persons who died of 
     heroin overdoses in Maryland in 1997, 252 fatalities occurred 
     in Baltimore.
       The DEA has said that in Baltimore 40,000 addicts pay 
     dealers an estimated $2 million a day for heroin. In the 
     District, there are an estimated 17,000 heroin users, 
     although crack cocaine and marijuana continue to be the drugs 
     of choice.
       Mr. Constantine said the agency plans to increase manpower 
     levels and spending totals over the next several years for 
     domestic and international heroin enforcement. He said 
     information collected in hospital emergency rooms, police 
     departments, courts, schools, treatment programs and ``on the 
     street'' shows that heroin consumption in the United States 
     is rising.
       ``For years, we've seen a hardcore older population of 
     approximately 600,000 heroin addicts,'' Mr. Constantine said. 
     ``Today, we are seeing 11th- and 12th-graders turning to 
     heroin. These `initiates' are, in all likelihood, at the 
     outset of a long, downward spiral into hard-core addiction or 
     death.''
       About 14 percent of the heroin seized last year in the 
     United States came from Mexico. Virtually all of it was 
     headed for buyers in Dallas; Houston; Denver; Phoenix; San 
     Diego; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; 
     St. Louis; and Chicago.
       Despite Mexico's continuing involvement in the drug trade, 
     the Clinton administration certified that country this year 
     as a full partner in the war on drugs--meaning it keeps its 
     eligibility for U.S. aid.
       The certification came on a recommendation from the State 
     Department. Colombia was among four countries that were 
     decertified, but it continues to enjoy an exemption from the 
     aid cuts. The administration has said that Colombia, along 
     with Cambodia, Pakistan and Paraguay, are too important to 
     U.S. national security to punish.
       Southeast Asian traffickers, mainly in Burma, Laos and 
     Thailand, have been squeezed out of the business by South 
     American smugglers, who have seized the market by offering a 
     higher quality heroin at lower prices--even arranging for 
     easy payments.
       ``Asian groups traditionally demand either sizable down 
     payments or cash on delivery,'' said Mr. Constantine, noting 
     that Colombia distributors ``often provide drugs on 
     consignment or offer credit.
       ``Given their reputation for strict enforcement of drug 
     deals, few buyers dare risk reneging on a drug deal with 
     criminal organizations operating from Latin America,'' he 
     said.

     

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