By David Gibson and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Sunday, February 3, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A01

Two drug addicts in Paterson and one in Newark died Saturday after using deadly heroin from the Bronx that police say has killed six people in the tri-state area and hospitalized at least 100 others within hours of hitting the streets.
Authorities were unsure late Saturday if the deaths were caused by “hotshots” powerful doses of uncut heroin or if the narcotic was laced with some poisonous material.
New York City police cruised drug-infested areas Saturday announcing the danger over bullhorns and searched abandoned tenements, seeking to spread the warning to homeless addicts. Police in Hartford, Conn., site of one fatal overdose, did the same.
But Paterson and Newark officials said they had no similar plans.
“The word is pretty much out on the street,” said Paterson Police Chief Richard W. Munsey. “Our detectives went out early this morning. “
Paterson police sources said one arrest had been made in an ongoing investigation aimed at tracking down the source of the lethal heroin.
“We’re compiling a lot of information and watching a couple of places. Hopefully we’ll get lucky,” said one detective, who added that New York police were assisting on the case.
Paterson Mayor William J. Pascrell Jr. took a hard line on warning addicts, characterizing the loudspeaker idea as “ludicrous. “
“When you play with poison, you’re going to die with poison, one way or another,” said Pascrell. The mayor acknowledged his attitude may be viewed as harsh, but said it was for the addicts own good: “I hope this puts fear into the drug users. There’s a lesson to be learned from this. “
Lt. Dan Collins of the Newark police said no efforts were being made to notify drug users there of the danger.
“We don’t go around broadcasting,” said one Newark police officer who declined to give his name. “When we go to shooting galleries, we lock them up.”
Six men and a woman were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson on Saturday suffering from drug overdoses, said spokeswoman Barbara Hopp. Two men were pronounced dead on arrival, three patients were treated and released, and two were reported in stable condition, she said. Officials would not identify the victims.
Pascrell and Munsey said word-of-mouth warnings would likely be sufficient to scare off Paterson’s heroin users because the overdoses, which started occurring about 4 a.m. Saturday, were confined to a small section of the city. They declined to identify the area.
New York officials said the heroin in question was bought after 4 p.m. Friday near 138th Street and Brook Avenue in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. It was distributed quickly, they said, citing as evidence the death in Hartford.
Two fatalities were reported in New York, and at least 100 people have been hospitalized, including 21 overdose cases in Newark and four in Irvington. Hartford hospitals reported 33 overdoses.
New York Health Department officials said preliminary tests indicated the heroin was possibly tainted with methyl fentanyl, which can increase the potency of the drug by “a factor of 27. ” That overwhelms receptors in the brain, they said, with resulting coma or respiratory arrest. The condition can be treated if caught in time, they added.
In Paterson, Munsey said death from an overdose of that magnitude can occur in minutes. “They go into a type of seizure and don’t come out. They go comatose and die very quickly,” he said.
The chief added that the heroin used Saturday must have been extremely potent.
“These [victims] are mainliners,” Munsey said. “If they’re dying from shooting up, it’s got to be a good load. With big-time users, it takes an awful lot. “
The heroin was being sold under the brand name “Tango and Cash,” after the movie in which Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell portray police officers fighting powerful drug lords.
“The brand name is nothing but a stamp that they put on a glassine envelope,” said Victor M. Pedalino, special agent with the Newark office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “They come up with new ones as soon as the names become familiar. “
Pedalino said that about three years ago, particularly potent brands of heroin called “China White” and “P-Dope,” which stood for pure dope, surfaced in New Jersey, and that there was an increase of overdose death reported during that time. That heroin was 70 percent to 85 percent pure.
Renee Sacerdote, a drug counselor at Eva’s Halfway House in Paterson, said addicts scared by the heroin could rely on alcohol or pills to overcome withdrawal pains.
She said Eva’s beds are full and there is a 150-person waiting list for the shelter’s detoxification services, but she said local hospitals, a Main Street methadone clinic, and the Straight and Narrow rehabilitation program could accommodate addicts seeking treatment.
Authorities said the speed with which the heroin reached outlying cities in Connecticut and New Jersey was grim testimony to the efficiency of the narcotics network, which police constantly attempt to interrupt.
Local authorities have long recognized that the majority of Paterson’s illegal drug supply originates in New York, less than a half-hour away on Route 80, and Pascrell said the latest deaths highlight his city’s role as a casualty rather than a protagonist in the drug war.
“Here, we arrest nickel-and-dime dealers,” Pascrell said. “While they’re certainly dangerous, they never get the big guys who pull the strings out of New York.”
Local and federal drug enforcement experts agreed that the area has seen a recent growth in the use of heroin, most of which comes from Southeast Asia. Pedalino said the New Jersey office “has increased its heroin investigation probably by 30 or 40 percent in the past few years.”
New York police, who are coordinating the investigation, asked those with information about who sold the drug to call a confidential, 24-hour hot line: 1-(212) 583-0144.

Keywords: DRUG; ABUSE; PATERSON; NEWARK; NEW YORK CITY

ID: 17331865 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)