Heroin's deadly path to Dutchess County
It comes in cars and buses and even trains.
It comes from fields thousands of miles away to the city that never sleeps and then onto the mid-Hudson Valley.
For many — too many — the ultimate destination is a needle that sends it coursing through their veins.
The path of heroin is not a mystery, but the volume and variety of ways to smuggle it are challenging for law enforcement.
The City of Poughkeepsie Police Department Neighborhood Recovery Unit seized approximately 82.6 grams and 1,292 bags of heroin in 2015. A bag of heroin, according to Officer John Douglass, a member of the unit, contains .02 of a gram.
Statewide, the New York State Police in 2015 seized 1,224 pounds of heroin.
That’s just what was seized. The influx of heroin has had deadly consequences.
Figures released by the state Health Department showed the number of opioid-related deaths rose 47 percent in New York between 2010 and 2014, fueled by the growth in heroin abuse. Those figures showed a total of 5,860 opioid-related deaths between 2010 and 2014, up from 2,931 from 2003 through 2007, a review by Gannett’s Albany Bureau showed.
Dutchess County had the highest rate of opioid-related overdose fatalities from 2009-2013 in counties with 20 or more deaths, at a rate of 5.5 per 100,000 people. Suffolk and Bronx counties were ranked second and third, the state Health Department said.
“Where is it coming from?” said Thomas Gaines of LaGrange, 34.
Heroin used to originate in Afghanistan, said Senior Investigator Mario Restivo of the state police. Now, it typically comes from Mexico and South America.
Before arriving in the Hudson Valley, heroin typically passes through New York City. According to the state police, it can arrive there by any number of ways, including the mail or a parcel delivery company, human trafficking or placed in a hidden compartment inside a range of items, from a car to a water heater.
For example, Officials seized 154 pounds of heroin in May 2015, just south of the Westchester County border. It is the largest heroin seizure in New York state in Drug Enforcement Agency history and the fourth largest heroin seizure in the nation, according to a Journal News report.
“The $50 million street value of the heroin in this case is a conservative estimate,” said Bridget Brennan, New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor. “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.”
Heroin passing through New York City can be headed for any number of destinations, Douglass said, including Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Albany, Syracuse and Buffalo.
From New York City, heroin can arrive in the Hudson Valley by various means, including car, bus or train. And it can arrive in bulk or parceled out quantities, ready for sale.
Capt. Gregory Thomas of the state police said there is no schedule to the arrivals or pattern to the quantities.
“These organizations change up the ways they do business to avoid detection,” he said. “They are very aware of the police presence. We’re trying to intercept their product. They work seven days a week. We try and combat it. They’re not going to stick to a schedule.”
When heroin comes to Dutchess in large quantities, it can end up with a middleman or in a dealer’s home, where it’s weighed and parceled out for sale on the street.
In June, the Dutchess County Drug Task Force searched a Town of Poughkeepsie home on Johns Boulevard. Authorities recovered 150 glassine envelopes of heroin, 2.5 grams of crack cocaine, an assault rifle, a 9mm handgun and a car.
“It can come up in a kilo,” Douglass said. “Then you can cut it up however you want and sell it by the gram, or by the bundle or the bag or glassine envelope.”
And then it hits the street. Douglass said the image of a heroin dealer lurking in the dark, or on a street corner, looking for a new customer or waiting for a return customer is realistic.
“They’re slinging out there everywhere,” he said. “It’s an epidemic.”
And that’s got Thomas Gaines in LaGrange concerned.
“What’s going to be the end result of it?” Gaines said. “I know they’re working on a solution, but it’s probably going to take time.”
John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo
Heroin forum
What: “Heroin: The scourge, the stories, the answers,” a free public forum hosted byPoughkeepsie Journal Media.
When: Sept. 14, 7 to 9 p.m.
Where: Family Partnership Center, 29 N. Hamilton St., Poughkeepsie
Info: The event is free. Registration is requested to ensure that there will be is enough seating. Visit http://pojonews.co/heroinforum or call 845-451-4508.
Heroin: The scourge, the stories, the answers
This is the second in a series of articles about the heroin crisis leading up to the Poughkeepsie Journal’s free forum on heroin. For more on the Poughkeepsie Journal’s extensive heroin coverage, go to pojonews.co/nyheroin.