From: [s--s] at [boom.bah] (President Newt)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard
Subject: DEA press release-Columbian dope
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 1995 10:41:37 -0400

From the DEA web page. Just wondering if anyone knows if any of it is true.

DEA Press Release

June 21, 1995

Colombian Heroin a Major Threat

Almost One Third of Heroin Seized in the United States Originates in South
America

South American (primarily Colombian) heroin production now accounts for a
startling 32% of heroin seized domestically in 1994. According to DEA
Administrator Thomas A. Constantine, "Just 5 years ago, almost all of heroin
seized came from Asia. Today, 32 percent of heroin seized can be traced to
South America, with an estimated 20,000 hectares of opium poppies being
cultivated in Colombia alone. Colombian traffickers have diversified into
heroin and this is no accident -- it's a shrewd marketing decision made to
capitalize on the increased profits that can be derived from heroin
trafficking. And unless checked, Colombian drug traffickers will be poised
to become central players in the Western Hemisphere heroin market in the
next decade."

These figures are based upon DEA's 1994 Heroin Signature Program (HSP) test
results completed in May 1995. Each year an in-depth chemical analysis is
performed on 600 to 800 samples taken from heroin seizures and purchases
made in the United States. As a result of the signature analysis, DEA
chemists are able to associate the heroin sample with a heroin manufacturing
process unique to a geographic source area. During 1994, 790 seized samples
underwent signature analysis at DEA's Special Testing and Research
Laboratory in McLean, Virginia.

DEA Administrator Constantine stated that "In 1991, South American heroin
production and seizures were insignificant. In just one short year, South
American heroin accounted for 15% of HSP seizures, and by 1994 the
percentage had more than doubled to 32 percent. That staggering growth and
market share would unfortunately make a perfect case study for the Wharton
School of business."

DEA's Domestic Monitor Program (DMP), which tracks price, purity and
availability through analysis of street level purchases also points to an
increase in the availability of South American heroin. The DMP shows an
increase in the amount of Colombian heroin available, particularly in the
northeastern United States. During 1994, South American heroin accounted for
almost 7 of every 10 DMP purchases in Boston, Newark, New York City and
Philadelphia, with an average purity of 59 percent.

In another indicator, DEA's El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) reports an
almost 6-fold increase in the number of Colombian couriers who were arrested
smuggling heroin into the United States in the 2-year period from 1991 to
1993.

"Data collected in hospital emergency rooms, police departments, courts,
schools, treatment programs and on the street show tragically that heroin
consumption in the United States is on the rise. Heroin has become more
affordable. We are seeing more people smoking heroin, or heroin use coupled
with crack or other forms of cocaine, and we are at risk of developing a
younger generation of heroin addicts." Administrator Constantine added,
"With the street level at the highest level its ever been (averaging 40%
nationwide) we're looking at a serious problem. America already has an
estimated 600,000 hard core heroin addicts. This should be a wake-up call
for all Americans."