http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 00828.html

TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 3, 2007


Eight Mexican illegal aliens arrested in Moon were members of a group responsible for smuggling and distributing black tar heroin in Allegheny and Beaver counties, according to arrest affidavits filed by the state Attorney General's Office.
Agents from the state Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control, working with local police, seized six ounces of the heroin and 485 balloons filled with the drug, containing an unknown amount. The drug would have sold for an estimated $50,000 on the street, authorities said. A balloon can contain a gram or more.

The March 23 arrests are part of a larger investigation into an organization whose members are active in Pittsburgh, Moon, Bellevue, Ambridge, Center, Monaca and Rochester, law-enforcement officials said. More arrests are anticipated.

"Mexican black tar heroin is a new phenomena that we haven't seen in Pennsylvania until very recently," said Kevin Harley, spokesman for state Attorney General Tom Corbett. "In the past, we've seen only traditional powdered heroin marketed in small 'stamp bag' packets."





Investigators seized $18,000 in cash, pagers and other evidence when they raided an apartment in the Thorn Run Apartment Complex on Lee Drive in Moon, an affidavit states. In the trash, agents found "owe sheets" and receipts indicating how drugs and money were transferred.

Agents identified Julio De Dios Ramierez-Garcia, 25, no address given, as a top leader of the group, and Pedro Alberto Peralta-Romero, 25, as the man responsible for local day-to-day operations. They face charges of possession and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, corruption and conspiracy.

Others arrested were Josue Celedon Partida, 28, Veronica Trinidad Hernandez-Garcia, 25, Irvin Joan De Dios Ramirez, 20, Hector Gonzalez Medina, 21, Gregorio Celedon-Partida, 22, and Hector Eduordo Bravo-Orquiz, 19. Most lived in the Moon apartment, investigators said.

Initially detained on immigration violations, they were charged Friday with the drug and conspiracy charges. The suspects are being held in the Allegheny County Jail for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Court hearings have not been set.

Harley said authorities aren't certain how long the eight have been in the area. He said state investigators began looking into the alleged drug operation last year.

The investigation stretches into Columbus, Ohio. Agents relied on confidential informants, surveillance of suspects, court-ordered reviews of phone records and "trash pulls," the affidavits show.


"From my understanding, this group has totally circumvented the traditional heroin networks. It's a basic supply-and-demand issue. The AG's office has seen the danger and is moving rather aggressively to stop it before it gets out of hand," said Ambridge police Chief Mark Romutis, whose officers helped in the investigation.

The group's members relied on a U.S. citizen to legally buy and register a car, used pagers to communicate, and called buyers from blocked phone numbers to arrange sales, authorities said in the affidavit.

Black tar heroin is named because of its gummy, tar-like consistency and usually is packaged in rubber balloons. Like powdered heroin, the drug can be injected or smoked. It is prevalent in cities on the West Coast and border states such as Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

It is rarely seen on the East Coast, said Steven Robertson, a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The heroin is typically cheaper than powdered heroin produced in Colombia and Bolivia and smuggled, in large part, by distribution networks composed of the four-largest Mexican-based drug cartels: The Gulf, Juarez, Tijuana and "La Federacion" groups, Robertson said.

It isn't known whether the eight people arrested have ties to any of those cartels.

Heroin reaching the streets in Western Pennsylvania typically is Colombian-produced, powdered heroin supplied largely by loosely knit groups with ties to the Dominican Republic, said James Harper, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Pittsburgh office. The Dominican groups work from New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Harper said.


"The black tar heroin is coming from Mexico. It is, in fact, being produced and shipped from Mexico," Harley said.

The smugglers often rely on illegal immigrants who are organizing themselves into small groups, containing a few individuals or as many as 10, Robertson said.

"With the Mexican cells, they can be as small as two to three guys working a street corner. ... These are self-contained networks," he said.