DRUG WAR: Mexico army seizes record cache of opiates

MEXICO CITY - The Mexican army said Wednesday that it has made a record seizure of opiates, about 3.6 metric tons of a dark liquid that contains heroin.

Experts said the liquid may be opium paste being processed into heroin.

A Mexican Defense Department press statement called it "the most important seizure of this drug in the history of the army and air force."

Authorities did not say how much heroin it would produce, but in general a kilogram of opium paste can yield about one-tenth as much of the drug.

The largest previous seizure of opiates was 245 kilograms (540 pounds) of opium paste found in Guerrero in January 2011. The Defense Department had said that seizure would have yielded over 600,000 doses of heroin.

The latest seizure was made when soldiers found dozens of large plastic containers with over 3,600 liters of the dark liquid on Feb. 1 during a raid on a drug lab in Coyuca de Catalan, a mountain town in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, near the border with Michoacan, the department said Wednesday

The department did not explain why the seizure was not made public for over a month, but noted that in order to accurately identify the liquid, it had referred the substance to civilian prosecutors for tests.

The rugged mountains of Guerrero state, along with a few other Pacific coast states, have long been known as areas where opium poppies are grown.

But Mexican drug traffickers did not often process opium past into heroin in the past; most of the heroin trafficked through Mexico came from Colombia.

However, in recent year experts have warned that opium production and processing in Mexico may be growing.

"The availability of heroin in the United States ... is increasing as a result of increased production in Mexico," the U.S. Justice Department said in its 2011 National Drug Threat Assessment. "The level of illicit poppy cultivation in Mexico was second only to that in Afghanistan in 2009, potentially producing an estimated 50 metric tons of heroin."

On one of the major smuggling routes to the U.S. border, in Tamaulipas state, suspected drug cartel gunmen fought running battles, authorities said.

The Tamaulipas Public Safety department said gunmen first tossed a grenade into a car dealership in the state capital of Ciudad Victoria, blowing out the windows and killing one employee. Another grenade was tossed into the police academy, wounding two people, and subsequent gun battles in the city killed three other people.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20180285/drug-war-mexico-army-seizes-record-cache-opiates

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From the Washington Times

Coalition calls for restricting helium sales, cites ‘huffing' hazard

The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, looking to draw attention to the dangers of “huffing” helium, called Thursday for new restrictions on the sale of the gas - as well as a more serious approach in the media to coverage of its misuse.

“Did you know that a … 6-year-old can walk into any store in the U.S. and purchase a helium tank? They can't even read the labels on the box,” said Justin Earp, the father of Ashley Long, an Oregon 14-year-old who died last month after inhaling helium at a party.

Mr. Earp joined NIPC officials at a press conference in Washington.

People inhale helium as entertainment because the gas used to float balloons raises the pitch of the human voice to cartoon character proportions. The gas is inert, but can displace the oxygen in the lungs, leading to oxygen deprivation - which can cause symptoms ranging from dizziness to blacking out to cardiac arrest.

The NIPC said the data on the number of deaths caused by helium is incomplete, but that the numbers are significant. According to the state of Florida's own statistics, nine people in the state died from inhaling helium in 2010.

Mr. Earp called for tougher laws to keep helium out of the hands of children and teenagers.

“It should be illegal to purchase helium unless you are 21 or are a licensed doctor or anesthesiologist,” Mr. Earp said.

Retailers and consumers, however, could cut down on helium risks with a few simple changes, said Harvey Weiss, director of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition.

Stores could place helium tanks higher up on the shelves, out of the reach of children, he said.

Mr. Weiss said there needs be more awareness of the dangers of helium huffing.

“Sometimes an adult shows them how to do it or that it is fun and acceptable to put a gas in your body. Who would do such a thing? It could be a parent, a teacher, a Scout leader even a youth pastor,” said Mr. Weiss.

Brian Dyak, president of Entertainment Industries Council Inc., an organization that encourages the media to address social and health issues, encouraged the entertainment and news industries to educate people about inhalant abuse through their platforms at the press conference.

He distributed a Hollywood tipsheet suggesting to writers that they use their screenplays to educate people about inhalant abuse.

“Avoid using inhalant abuse as a glamorous or socially acceptable or normal behavior,” reads the tipsheet. “Also, try to show abuse with the negative consequences that might accompany such use.”

The education could get subtle. The handout suggested that the message could take the forms of inhalant-prevention posters on the set, similar to the product placement some companies employ.

But Walter Olsen , a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, said that for years people have been playing with helium and science teachers have inhaled the gas to demonstrate its effects on the vocal chords. Anything can be abused and he suggests knowing the risks instead of making policy or passing law.

“Small risk is worth knowing about, but it's not worth rearranging our whole lives around,” Mr. Olsen said.

Austin's new police commander, community plan to take back five crime hotspots

by Ellyn Fortino

Austin's new Police Commander Barbara West and other law enforcement officials for the 15 th District rolled out a plan to monitor five crime hotspots in Austin with the help of community members at the district's faith-based and block club leaders meeting Tuesday.

The police district determines hotspots in the community based on the amount of 911 calls, arrests, homicides and other acts of public violence in a given square or linear block.

In these determined spots, if people are loitering on the corner the police officers can tell them to leave. If the loiterers come back, the officers can arrest them, said Officer Al Townsend at the meeting, which was held at the 15 th District headquarters, 5701 W. Madison Ave.

“We try to put up hot spots to reduce public violence as a whole,” said Officer Tonya Collins to the group of about 40 residents and block club leaders.

Collins said the five hotspots are located along Washington Boulevard from Long Street to Central Avenue; Adams Street from Laramie Avenue to Long Street; and Monroe Street from Long Street to Central Avenue.

Also included is the square block of Lamon Avenue on the east, Lavergne Avenue on the west, West End Avenue on the south and Maypole Avenue on the north.

The final square block is Lamon Avenue on the east, Lavergne Avenue on the west, Iowa Street on the south and Augusta Boulevard on the north, which is an area of most concern, Collins said.

“That's a big problem for us because there's a school right there,” she said. .

These hotspots are active until Sep. 30. After that date, new spots will be determined.

Townsend called on the 50 people in the audience to help take back these hotspots as part of the 100 Blocks, 100 Churches initiative.

Every Wednesday evening in June, the group — made up of police, church organizations and block club leaders — plans to take back the hotspots.

“If we go big in numbers on these particular spots where there are problems, I think our message will get across a little better,” Collins said.

Townsend said for the action to be effective, there needs to be at least 200 to 300 people picketing on a hotspot.

“We need a lot of people,” he said. “We don't want to be out there with four or five people, because it's not making a difference.”

This is the year to make an impact in the community, Townsend said.

“We're going to look forward to what we can do,” he said. “We have a mew mayor, a new superintendent; a new commander. We're going to start something this summer.”

West, Austin's new commander, is replacing Commander Walter Green, who recently transferred to Chicago's Central Detective Division. He served for about four years as the 15 District commander.

West is an Austin native and previously worked as a beat office in the 15 th District, among other assignments, she said at the meeting.

“I worked the 15th many years ago as a rookie, so I'm back home,” she said.

“I'm back to serve.”

Charles Dehart, community activist and block club president of the 700 and 600 blocks of N. Central Ave. and N. Pine St. said Green's new assignment “has to be for the better,” and he's leaving on a “positive note”

“I want to wish him well,” Dehart said in remarks before the meeting. “I appreciate the service that he gave us, especially over in our area, because we had a really tough area.”

Dehart said improving his blocks was “quite challenging.”

“Certainly without (Green's) help and support we couldn't get it to where it is now,” he said.

When asked what specific challenges Green helped combat in the 600 and 700 blocks, Dehart said he didn't want to give examples.

“When you're talking about the police department, as well as some community residents, we don't want to be specific,” Dehart said. “Specifics open the doors to many other negatives.”

West said Austin has always been a “strong place to live and to work,” and block clubs play a key role in the community.

“It's my belief that if the community partnership with the police department and the partnerships with the other organizations — faith based — we can pretty much do anything we want to do in the 15 District.”

Austin's next block club and faith-based organization planning meeting is scheduled for April 10. For more information on how to participate, contact the 15 th District Community Policing Office at 312-743-1495.

http://austintalks.org/2012/03/austins-new-police-commander-community-plan-to-take-back-five-crime-hotspots/

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Nevada

Company pushes Neighborhood Watch concept ahead with Web-based service

But Henderson police also implemented a new strategy -- a Las Vegas-based online alert system called AlertID. The Web-based platform pulls information from law enforcement and public safety agencies for distribution to users at no cost through text or email. Users can sign up at AlertID.com and designate the area where they want to be kept informed. The site updates every 15 minutes.

Henderson police, in this instance, pushed the missing person alert to users within a few miles of the spot where the man was last seen, and did find him but not through AlertID.

AlertID is part of the movement toward the centralization and digitization of information. First it was our social lives, then it was medical records, now it's the reporting of crimes and policing of communities.

The company was launched two years ago in Reno but recently moved its headquarters to Las Vegas. It has about 20 employees and plans to expand.

The services it provides are free to both law enforcement agencies and users. AlertID's chief mission is not to make money, founder Keli Wilson said, but to make communities safer.

"One of our goals is to help Las Vegas get off the most dangerous cities list," she said.

The company does have a business model, however. It offers sponsorship programs for other businesses to advertise on the AlertID website and on mobile and tablet applications.

Some 60,000 Nevadans have signed up for AlertID. The company plans to expand nationwide, working with sheriff's offices, fire departments and other agencies to notify users of crimes or events that affect their quality of life: burglaries, fires and sex offenders' registered locations among them.

But AlertID doesn't just send out texts about crimes. The website also has a Community Watch section, which adds a social media element to AlertID's services. Users can comment on an alert, much as they might react to a Facebook status update. Residents can also post photos of suspicious activity they see and send messages to law enforcement with tips about crimes.

AlertID Chief Executive Officer Ken Wiles, who also serves as chairman of the Nevada Economic Forum, said public safety agencies across the country have already reached out to the company after hearing Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley rave about the county's 32 percent drop in crime since AlertID became active there.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas sociology professor Andrew Spivak, who studies criminology, said it's difficult to gauge the effectiveness of Neigborhood Watch programs, which is essentially what AlertID is. However, a shift toward "technologically sophisticated" forms of Neighborhood Watch, which grew popular in the 1990s, will become more common, he added.

"Web-based technology like the AlertID system will likely play an important role in the way community policing is implemented in the future," Spivak said.

More than 19,000 Henderson residents have signed up for the website since AlertID partnered with the city in August. Henderson Police Department spokesman Keith Paul said the most noticeable change since then is that more residents are engaging in their community and meeting their neighbors.

The Metropolitan Police Department in Las Vegas on March 1 officially announced it would use AlertID after conducting internal tests of the services on New Year's Eve and at the recent NASCAR races. AlertID also allows officers to send alerts to the department, which are then distributed within the force.

Lt. Jim Seebock led the social media committee within Metro that selected AlertID when the department was looking for a centralized, Web-based alert service.

"This company offered something no one else was doing, pushing crime data out to the community. With the emerging trend with texting and smartphone use, this company offered that ability for us," Seebock said.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/company-pushes-neighborhood-watch-concept-ahead-with-web-based-service-142902115.html

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New Cincinnati Police Civilian Advisory Board Formed

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