New Orleans -
One of the reasons behind New Orleans crime problem is a drug that police and narcotics agents thought they had beaten into submission. Heroin has become the drug of choice for an alarming number of drug users and drug pushers. It’s comeback is due largely to the changing nature of the drug business, post Katrina. NOPD Deputy Chief Jimmy Scott says heroin is the emerging drug on the streets of New Orleans, a drug that was virtually unseen by agents 4 years ago. Heroin, like crack and powered cocaine, yield a lot of money for drug dealers.
NOPD Deputy Chief Jimmy Scott says, "A kilo of heroin can run 60 to 80 thousand dollars."
Between the users and the dealers, violent crime can become a daily ritual, but the NOPD says there was a time when there were no drugs in the city of New Orleans. That was post katrina.
Scott says, "It was an amazing thing. The week or two after katrina there were absolutely no drugs. We arrested no persons. There were absolutely no drugs in the city of New Orleans, maybe for as long as 30 days."
While the NOPD was getting a break from the normal drug activity, the dealers were given an opportunity. They began making drug connections in other cities.
Scott says that as the population returned, so did the drugs, but heroin was now one of them.
The NOPD says heroin is primarily produced in Columbia. It's brought through Mexico and Texas. From there, drug runners will transport the heroin maily through the I-10 cooridor to New Orleans.
