The Arizona Republic
Oct. 15, 2004 12:00 AM
SCOTTSDALE - The investigation into an August heroin bust involving a handful of Scottsdale students has broadened to at least 150 teenagers, some of whom bought or used drugs on campus.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday that his office has turned up the names of at least 150 Scottsdale students among more than 40,000 cellphone calls made to suspected drug dealers Jose Hernandez Jimenez, 21, and Cesar Rodriguez Perez, 18.
Arrests may not be made in every case, Arpaio said.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday that his office has turned up the names of at least 150 Scottsdale students among more than 40,000 cellphone calls made to suspected drug dealers Jose Hernandez Jimenez, 21, and Cesar Rodriguez Perez, 18.
Arrests may not be made in every case, Arpaio said.
"We want to open the minds of educators, parents, kids and civic leaders and show them the scope of the problem," Arpaio said.
There have been no arrests since the August sting, which netted 16 Scottsdale students as well as the suspected dealers, who were booked Aug. 17 into Madison Street Jail on drug-related charges.
Scottsdale school officials said at the time that they had been told that none of the drug transactions took place on school grounds; however, Arpaio said Thursday that some of the sales took place on at least three campuses.
The drug investigation grew out of a murder case in 2002 that began in Phoenix.
When the Sheriff's Office took over, it learned about a group of dealers from Mexico who were targeting youths, said Sgt. Paul Chagolla, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.
Arpaio said the dealers specifically targeted Scottsdale schools because the students there tend to come from wealthier families.
"It's an affluent area, and they're hitting the high schools," Arpaio said.
"These kids are not poor. They have more money, cellphones, nice cars. "
In August, officials reported that as many as 30 additional students were involved, but that number now stretches "into the hundreds," according to Arpaio.
"This is wider in scope than we expected," he said.
Some buyers are believed to be as young as 13.
Investigators now say that in some cases, they trailed the dealers to and from Scottsdale schools, where they observed buys being made on school property.
Tom Herrmann, spokesman for the Scottsdale Unified School District, declined comment Thursday, saying the school district hadn't received specifics from the Sheriff's Office.
"Certainly, if we have issues at the schools we'll take a hard look at them," he said.
Scottsdale schools are on fall break this week.
The Sheriff's Office originally believed dealers targeted Saguaro, Desert Mountain and Chaparral high schools, but the investigation has since turned up more public schools in Scottsdale and one alternative learning center were possibly involved.
When the Sheriff's Office announced the heroin ring in August, district officials said they were unaware of the investigation until the Sheriff's Office sent news releases to the media.
Superintendent John Baracy sent home a letter with students the next day, reassuring parents that their children were safe at schools. In the August letter, Baracy said he spoke with Arpaio and was assured that none of the allegations took place on school property. Baracy wasn't available for comment on Thursday.
The Scottsdale Police Department has not been involved in the investigation, said Detective Sam Bailey, a police spokesman.
Scottsdale parent Susie Matush, who started a parent-driven effort last spring aimed at preventing alcohol and drug use, has worked to get information to parents to help kids make healthier choices.
Matush said she needs more facts before offering an opinion on the sheriff's investigation. But she said that in general drugs and alcohol are community issues.
"The whole community needs to rally and watch out for the kids," she said.
Once considered the drug of a street junkie, heroin has undergone a chic resurgence over the last decade.
Sheriff's investigators say that instead of injecting heroin, today's teenagers snort or smoke the drug, often mixing it with other street drugs to create a potent cocktail.
The going rate for a useable amount of heroin is between $10 and $20, according to investigators.
"It got cool again," said Russ Warrington, a prevention specialist and program manager with the Scottsdale Prevention Institute. "It got glamorous for a younger crowd," much like crack cocaine in the 1980s.
About 3.7 million American students age 12 and older reported using heroin at least once, according to a 2002 Office of National Drug Control Policy study.
Sheriff's officials would not say when the investigation will conclude.
"This is not overblown," Arpaio said. "We are going to take our time, and we're not going to rush. But we're going to identify every kid who's involved."
So far, the Sheriff's Office has refused to release the names of students arrested or say where they attend school, saying that the investigation is ongoing.
There have been no arrests since the August sting, which netted 16 Scottsdale students as well as the suspected dealers, who were booked Aug. 17 into Madison Street Jail on drug-related charges.
Scottsdale school officials said at the time that they had been told that none of the drug transactions took place on school grounds; however, Arpaio said Thursday that some of the sales took place on at least three campuses.
The drug investigation grew out of a murder case in 2002 that began in Phoenix.
When the Sheriff's Office took over, it learned about a group of dealers from Mexico who were targeting youths, said Sgt. Paul Chagolla, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.
Arpaio said the dealers specifically targeted Scottsdale schools because the students there tend to come from wealthier families.
"It's an affluent area, and they're hitting the high schools," Arpaio said.
"These kids are not poor. They have more money, cellphones, nice cars. "
In August, officials reported that as many as 30 additional students were involved, but that number now stretches "into the hundreds," according to Arpaio.
"This is wider in scope than we expected," he said.
Some buyers are believed to be as young as 13.
Investigators now say that in some cases, they trailed the dealers to and from Scottsdale schools, where they observed buys being made on school property.
Tom Herrmann, spokesman for the Scottsdale Unified School District, declined comment Thursday, saying the school district hadn't received specifics from the Sheriff's Office.
"Certainly, if we have issues at the schools we'll take a hard look at them," he said.
Scottsdale schools are on fall break this week.
The Sheriff's Office originally believed dealers targeted Saguaro, Desert Mountain and Chaparral high schools, but the investigation has since turned up more public schools in Scottsdale and one alternative learning center were possibly involved.
When the Sheriff's Office announced the heroin ring in August, district officials said they were unaware of the investigation until the Sheriff's Office sent news releases to the media.
Superintendent John Baracy sent home a letter with students the next day, reassuring parents that their children were safe at schools. In the August letter, Baracy said he spoke with Arpaio and was assured that none of the allegations took place on school property. Baracy wasn't available for comment on Thursday.
The Scottsdale Police Department has not been involved in the investigation, said Detective Sam Bailey, a police spokesman.
Scottsdale parent Susie Matush, who started a parent-driven effort last spring aimed at preventing alcohol and drug use, has worked to get information to parents to help kids make healthier choices.
Matush said she needs more facts before offering an opinion on the sheriff's investigation. But she said that in general drugs and alcohol are community issues.
"The whole community needs to rally and watch out for the kids," she said.
Once considered the drug of a street junkie, heroin has undergone a chic resurgence over the last decade.
Sheriff's investigators say that instead of injecting heroin, today's teenagers snort or smoke the drug, often mixing it with other street drugs to create a potent cocktail.
The going rate for a useable amount of heroin is between $10 and $20, according to investigators.
"It got cool again," said Russ Warrington, a prevention specialist and program manager with the Scottsdale Prevention Institute. "It got glamorous for a younger crowd," much like crack cocaine in the 1980s.
About 3.7 million American students age 12 and older reported using heroin at least once, according to a 2002 Office of National Drug Control Policy study.
Sheriff's officials would not say when the investigation will conclude.
"This is not overblown," Arpaio said. "We are going to take our time, and we're not going to rush. But we're going to identify every kid who's involved."
So far, the Sheriff's Office has refused to release the names of students arrested or say where they attend school, saying that the investigation is ongoing.
