Post by Bailiffoldaccount on Oct 28, 2008 0:08:22 GMT -5
New York Post
COKE $OARS, METH SURGES
By LARRY CELONA
October 27, 2008 --
Big Apple pushers have found a new way to boost profits.
Faced with the skyrocketing price of cocaine, city drug dealers are increasingly turning to crystal meth to peddle in its place, drug-enforcement officials say.
"[Dealers] are trying to create a market," said John Gilbride, the DEA's special agent in charge of New York. "[We're] afraid of an epidemic similar to the crack epidemic of the '80s."
The shift in the drug market has led to a vast increase in crystal-meth seizures in New York, Gilbride said. So far this year, the DEA has nabbed 14 kilos of meth, compared to just 4 kilos all of last year.
On July 3, agents scooped up 10 pounds in Jackson Heights. On Sept. 4, they confiscated 7 pounds in Washington Heights. And on Sept. 22, they seized another 11 pounds in Jackson Heights.
Most crystal-meth use in the city is found in the club scene, but officials fear it may spread.
"It is a very dangerous, addictive drug," Gilbride said. "Very rarely is there such a thing as a casual meth user . . . Eventually, they stop eating, they stop taking care of their kids, they lose their hair, their teeth. It is a very nasty drug."
The drug's production is extremely toxic and combustible.
larry.celona@nypost.com
Home
NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and NEWYORKPOST.COM
are trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc.
Copyright 2008 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
And we don't give a rat's ass.
COKE $OARS, METH SURGES
By LARRY CELONA
October 27, 2008 --
Big Apple pushers have found a new way to boost profits.
Faced with the skyrocketing price of cocaine, city drug dealers are increasingly turning to crystal meth to peddle in its place, drug-enforcement officials say.
"[Dealers] are trying to create a market," said John Gilbride, the DEA's special agent in charge of New York. "[We're] afraid of an epidemic similar to the crack epidemic of the '80s."
The shift in the drug market has led to a vast increase in crystal-meth seizures in New York, Gilbride said. So far this year, the DEA has nabbed 14 kilos of meth, compared to just 4 kilos all of last year.
On July 3, agents scooped up 10 pounds in Jackson Heights. On Sept. 4, they confiscated 7 pounds in Washington Heights. And on Sept. 22, they seized another 11 pounds in Jackson Heights.
Most crystal-meth use in the city is found in the club scene, but officials fear it may spread.
"It is a very dangerous, addictive drug," Gilbride said. "Very rarely is there such a thing as a casual meth user . . . Eventually, they stop eating, they stop taking care of their kids, they lose their hair, their teeth. It is a very nasty drug."
The drug's production is extremely toxic and combustible.
larry.celona@nypost.com
Home
NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and NEWYORKPOST.COM
are trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc.
Copyright 2008 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
And we don't give a rat's ass.
