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22 May 2003

DEA Says Colombian-Dominican Republic Heroin Organization is Dismantled

(Drug trafficking group sent heroin from Medellin to U.S.) (300)
Washington -- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says a
major heroin trafficking organization with a Colombian-Dominican
Republic connection has been dismantled, resulting in the arrests of
45 suspects, and the seizure of $320,000 and about 14 kilograms of
heroin.
In a May 20 statement, the DEA said the heroin was shipped from
Medellin, Colombia, to Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
and New York City.
The DEA said that after a two-year investigation, the drug trafficking
organization "was totally exposed from the retail street-level
managers, couriers, and wholesalers to the source of supply" in
Medellin.
James Kasson, DEA's special agent in Philadelphia, said that the city
has had the "highest heroin purity in the country for a number of
years." The investigation, he said, revealed that Philadelphia is no
longer just a "user" city, but is now a major "gateway" city for
heroin, meaning that heroin would be shipped from Philadelphia to
other points in the United States.
The target of the investigation was the Franklin Santos Heroin
Organization. Santos, a Dominican Republic national, headed the
Philadelphia heroin organization along with Carlos Tapia, who
previously lived in Philadelphia but moved to New York due to pressure
from law enforcement. They imported heroin from Colombian sources of
supply in kilogram quantities. The heroin was brought to the
northeastern United States and transported to Philadelphia to be sold
by Dominican drug traffickers.
The suspects in the investigation are charged with "conspiracy to
possess with intent to distribute, in excess of one kilogram of
heroin," and also with "possessing with intent to distribute heroin."
The DEA said that if convicted, the suspects could receive sentences
of up to life in prison.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)