Last Updated: August 17. 2011 2:32PM.

Record drug raid in Pontiac yields $5 million worth of heroin

Robert Snell/ The Detroit News

Detroit— A recent raid of a Pontiac apartment led to the seizure of almost $5 million worth of heroin, the largest haul by federal drug agents in state history.

During the Aug. 12 raid, drug agents found 69 kilograms of heroin inside an apartment in the 100 block of West Pike Street west of Woodward, according to federal court records.

"This is the largest heroin seizure the DEA has ever been involved with in Michigan, definitely," said Rich Isaacson, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Detroit.

Heroin sells for $70,000 a kilo wholesale.

A couple has been charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin and ordered held behind bars pending trial. They are Juventino Urioste Valdovino and Lila Torres-Garcia, a mother of three and a Mexican citizen living in the United States illegally for five years, according to court records.

The heroin was contained in brick-shaped packages stashed in the apartment's master bedroom. Investigators also recovered between $500,000 and $1 million in cash and 10 kilograms of cocaine, according to federal court records.

The raid and investigation was carried out by DEA task force agents and members of the Oakland County Sheriff's Department drug team.

The Oakland County Sheriff's Department is expected to provide more information about the bust this afternoon.

rsnell@detnews.com


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110817/MET ... z1VJTbGfGF



And in other Detroit news...

Last Updated: August 17. 2011 1:00AM.

DPS 1st in Mich. to get free meals for all

As many as 40 area districts may qualify for new fed program

Steve Pardo/ The Detroit News

School districts across Michigan are weighing whether to join a new program that could feed hundreds of thousands of students two meals and a snack every day, courtesy of the federal government.

Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky were selected to participate through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Option Program. All of Detroit Public Schools' estimated 65,800 students will receive the free food starting this fall.

An additional 600,000 students out of the state's 1.57 million students qualify for the free meals.

To be eligible for the program, a school or district must have at least 40 percent of its students receiving the free meals. School systems could opt in districtwide if they qualify or bring in individual buildings.

One of the goals is to eliminate the shame some students may feel in receiving free food, said Aaron Lavallee, U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman.

"We've worked very hard to reduce the stigma," Lavallee said. "We're seeing a lot of working-class families who've had to turn to free school meals to feed their children. A lot of these kids are getting the bulk of their calories at school, so these programs are very important."

The program will make it easier for low-income children to receive meals, Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon said in a statement.

"Schools will benefit from reduced paperwork, parents will not have to fill out duplicative forms and children in need will get better access to healthy school meals," Concannon said.

Others question the scope of the program, which is part of President Barack Obama's Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was enacted last year.

The reauthorization of the child nutrition bill, which provides free and reduced-price meals for schoolchildren, includes $4.5 billion in new funding over 10 years. More than 31 million children nationwide are served meals each day under the program.

"I think there is a question if this is a good use of taxpayer money," said Michael Van Beek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "Under this program, it appears we would be subsidizing school lunches and meals to students who currently don't qualify under the federal program."

Van Beek said there are more creative solutions than giving away meals to everyone at a school where less than half of the students may qualify.

But the stigma is real in Detroit, where more than 78 percent of students qualify for free food, said Mark Schrupp, DPS' chief operating officer.

"Some students would skip important meals to avoid being identified as low-income," Schrupp said in a press release. "Now, all students will walk through a lunch line and not have to pay. Low-income students will not be easily identifiable and will be less likely to skip meals."

For 2009-10, students from families making at or below 130 percent of the poverty level, or $28,665 for a family of four, qualified for free meals.

It may not make financial sense for schools or districts with relatively lower percentages of students receiving the free meals to participate in the program.

Under the program, federal reimbursement is based on a multiplier of 1.6, said Marla Moss, assistant director of child nutrition programs for the Michigan Department of Education. That translates, for example, to 100 percent reimbursement to a district or school where 62.5 percent or more of the students qualify for free lunches. Districts below that threshold would have to contribute toward the cost of providing the meals and snacks.

Districts will report to the state in about a month whether they want to participate.

"We know Detroit is in and we'll know more from the other schools by the middle of September," Moss said. "We think this is a good thing. We're excited about it. It will be good for the kids."

More than 197 million school meals were served in the state in fiscal year 2010. Of those, more than 137 million were free or reduced cost, according to the state Department of Education.

In fiscal 2010, the federal government spent $338 million on free and reduced school meals and snacks in Michigan, while the state spent more than $30 million, according to preliminary state data.

The number of meals served in schools has risen. In 2007, about 179.5 million meals were served, with about 111.1 million free or at reduced costs.

The free-for-all option will be phased in over the next several years. Four more states will be added to the program in 2012 and again in 2013. The option will be available to qualifying schools and districts nationwide in 2014.

spardo@detnews.com


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110817/SCH ... z1VJUGwmbP