Does Watertown have a crime problem?
I asked that question in my previous post: Here’s Why the Next Crime Boom is
Headed Our Way. I suggested that many residents would answer
yes but that they haven’t yet become alarmed because they believe that crime is
currently at an acceptable or tolerable level. Or, to put it another way,
they’re not ready to raise hell about it because crime hasn’t intruded on their
lives.
What will make the crime level unacceptable and intolerable
is when serious crime hits close to home for enough residents that it gets the
attention of the politically uninvolved − those who are too busy going about
their lives to pay attention to who’s getting elected to city council or school
committee and how those representatives are prioritizing issues.
The position I’m staking out is that crime is on the verge
of hitting close to home for many of the politically uninvolved, which includes
parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and anyone connected to those residents
most targeted by dealers of deadly fentanyl-laced opioids − teenagers.
This is happening everywhere and to think that Watertown is
an exception is to be blind to the crime epidemic of our time. To see the
evidence, you don’t have to look far but you do need to look beyond our four-square
miles.
The following story appeared in February in a Newton Police
Department announcement on their Facebook page. For me, it raised some
important questions. Here’s the headline:
“Another huge case involving a Newton Police
Task Force Officer that resulted in the arrest of two individuals and more than
50,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills suspected to contain fentanyl seized.”
What most popped out to me, after reading the full
announcement, was that the two men arrested were from the Providence, Rhode
Island area, and the counterfeit pills were seized from their Providence area
homes.
So why was a Newton police officer involved?
I asked that question through the department’s Facebook
page. The answer provided was that the Newton officer was assigned to the
Boston area task force of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and he “was
a significant asset in assistance with the investigation.”
I also asked if the fact that a Newton police officer was
involved in the case meant that some amount of those counterfeit pills was
intended to be distributed in Newton. Because if Newton was one of the
communities being targeted, residents of Watertown might have reason to be
concerned that some of those counterfeit oxycodone pills, laced with fentanyl −
a drug 50 times stronger than heroin − would have gotten into the hands of some
unsuspecting Watertown residents, including school kids.
Here’s the answer I received from the Newton Police Department:
“We have no direct information that any of the
drugs seized were heading to Newton, but with that large amount, I'm sure some
would have definitely made it this way!”
A news release by DEA provides more details but there is
much they are not telling us about the case.
Here are three unanswered questions that, for me, stand out:
First, were the “alleged” drug traffickers members or
associates of a nationwide street gang with a regional headquarters in
Providence (of which there are several)?
The answer is almost certainly yes.
Second, does that street gang include the Newton-Watertown
area as part of their drug distribution territory?
And third, is there evidence that some of their fentanyl
has already made its way to the Newton-Watertown area?
Along with the counterfeit pills, the police also seized
two pill presses used to turn bulk powder into pills made to resemble
prescription oxycodone, so we know that the “suspects,” (as we are supposed
call them until they plead or are found guilty) were not just distributors.
They were also manufacturers.
Most fentanyl in the U.S. is smuggled over the border by Mexican
cartels and is distributed across the country by violent territorial street gangs.
This Providence area drug trafficking organization or DTO, as they are commonly
referred to by law enforcement, has allegedly been distributing their product throughout
three states − New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. That size operation
is in some way gang affiliated, or it would not be allowed to exist.
No street gang can allow a large-scale independent DTO to insult
and embarrass them by blatantly stealing customers on gang-owned turf.
We will learn a lot more about this case, including details
about specific gang-involvement and maybe about any past or present impact on the
Newton-Watertown area as the investigation develops. Future news releases from
DEA or the Department of Justice will provide more answers.
In the meantime, another case − this one to our north − which
has already reached the sentencing phase and may also have implications for residents
of Watertown and neighboring communities, focused on a DTO on the North Shore
and should absolutely be made into a movie.
This case, which is rich in details, brings us a big step
closer to understanding how lethal drugs find their way from urban area gangs
into the hands of suburbanites who look a lot like you and me and even more
disturbingly, like the kids who live next door.
Here’s the headline from the Boston Globe, January 20, 2022:
“Lynn Man And His Mother Charged With Running
Drug Ring That Sold Thousands Of Fentanyl-Laced Pills”
I am a huge fan of family-owned and operated businesses but
there is nothing heartwarming about this story. In fact, it’s downright
frightening.
Victor Caruso (26) known on the street as “Fatz” and “Big Boy,”
is head of the family business, referred to by authorities as the Caruso DTO.
His mother, Laurie Caruso (52), handled the money laundering side of the
business.
Victor Caruso pleaded guilty a few weeks ago. Here’s the
DEA press release headline from March 15, which provides some insight into how he
got caught:
“North Shore Drug Trafficking Leader Pleads
Guilty to Conspiracy Involving Pressed Fentanyl Pills and Machine Guns
Defendant Boasted The Operations In Photos And
Videos On Social Media Depicting Machine Guns And Thousands Of Counterfeit
Prescription Pills He Manufactured Using Pill Presses”
Caruso was an enthusiastic user of social media, which he
used mostly to brag about his drug-dealing success while displaying piles of ill-gotten
cash and flashy jewelry in the background. So once investigators got possession
of his cellphones and the self-incriminating pictures and videos they contained,
his goose was cooked.
You might want to check out this very detailed affidavit from
an FBI special agent, involved in the case, containing much of the video and photographic
evidence, as well as transcripts of colorful phone conversations that provide
an up-close look at what it’s like to be a high-rolling, ruthless gangbanger
entrepreneur.
In at least one video, Caruso bragged about his specialty,
which was making “Perc 30s” − counterfeit 30 mg Percocet pills, laced with cheap
fentanyl. He used multiple presses to crank out the pills while applying the stamps
and dyes needed to make them indistinguishable from the real thing.
The presses had the capacity to make hundreds, if not
thousands, of pills per hour.
So far, he doesn’t sound like the brightest bulb on the
tree but his business model could be described as somewhat sophisticated.
Caruso was a self-admitted member of the Crips street gang but
he ran his DTO as a separate entity, employing a loose network of associates to
obtain and manage “stash houses” for his drugs, cash, and weapons, and he used at
least one other violent street gang, the Tiny Rascals, to widen his area of
distribution. The Tiny Rascals have a presence in Cambridge and Somerville,
where they are known for drive-by shootings involving rival gang members.
Caruso’s scale of manufacturing gave him the volume of
product that allowed him to sell both retail and wholesale.
Counterfeit pill prices
in the Greater Boston area retail at between $10 and $20 per pill and wholesale
prices are between $4 and $8 per pill. Caruso based his price per pill on the quantity
of “the buy” and only sold to high volume buyers. He was not a small-time drug
dealer. His price structure left enough room for plenty of small-timers to buy
his product and run their own home-based drug business.
I don’t think anyone really knows just how many Caruso-style
DTOs are currently operating in our area or anywhere else in the country. And
certainly, no one could possibly know how many small-timers have sprung up to
fill the growing demand for illicit drugs.
But we do know how most of those small-time dealers find
and connect with their suburban customers − especially their teenage suburban customers.
They do it through the internet, which is why you will probably will never see gangbangers
from the Crips, MS-13, the Latin Kings, or the Tiny Rascals hanging around the middle
school, the high school, or the Boys and Girls Club.
Gang members can use Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat to sell
directly or they can wholesale their drugs to small-time dealers who are fluent
in the language of teenagers on social media.
Please don’t get the impression that the Providence area
DTO and the Caruso DTO are in any way unique or that putting them out of
business solves most of the gang-driven drug problem posing a threat to our
neighborhoods.
If you ever want to take a look at the arrest and
investigation announcements − just involving fentanyl pills − by the state
police of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire and the local police
departments of Newton, Waltham, Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston, you will get
a sobering view of the scope of the problem.
There are millions of counterfeit opioid pills in
circulation all around us that we know about and possibly millions more that we
don’t. And all indications are that the demand for illicit opioids is going up,
especially in the suburbs and especially among teenagers.
According to the CDC, the stress caused by social isolation
and disruptions of daily life has led to a spike in drug use by first time
users of all ages but most significantly by teenagers. Since the beginning of
covid, fentanyl overdose deaths have tripled among teenagers and
have increased by five times among black teenagers.
What is the profile of a teenage drug user? There isn’t
one. It can be a straight A student headed for college or a standout student
athlete. Addiction can begin with prescription painkillers that were taken for
sports injuries, recovery from surgeries, or from dental procedures. Or it can
begin by stealing samples from their parents’ medicine cabinet or from pills
passed around in school bathrooms.
A miniscule dose of fentanyl − the size of a grain of sand −
can be lethal. You would think that profit-driven drug dealers would take pains
not to kill their customers, but dead customers are easy to replace, thanks to
the advertising and marketing power provided by social media − especially
Snapchat.
When fentanyl doesn’t kill you, it raises your tolerance
level so that you will need more of it to avoid the very debilitating effects
of withdrawal and dealers are there to milk your addiction for all it’s worth.
Snapchat has over 88.5 million users in the U.S. alone and
reaches an astounding 75% of Gen Z − those born between 1997 and 2012. Gen Zers
right now range between 10 years old and 25 years old.
All middle school and high school students are members of
Gen Z.
Snapchat is considered to be the most popular app for
buying and selling drugs, because it offers users an unusual level of privacy,
because user profiles can be quickly created and deleted, and because most
parents of teenagers are not on it.
When parents do decide to take a look at Snapchat, they discover
a strange universe of young users speaking in code. Drug dealers call
themselves “plugs” but using that word can trigger banishment from Snapchat, so
dealers just display a picture of an electrical plug along with pictures
representing their menu of drugs.
The nimblest dealers are quick to adapt to Snapchat
oversight by changing up their lingo and their methods to stay one step ahead
of Snapchat’s drug spotters. Law enforcement officers have tracked shifty
internet dealers starting their drug deals on one platform, like TikTok or
Instagram, and finishing the deals on Snapchat.
Despite the layers of privacy, enough parents have been
able to tie Snapchat to the overdose deaths of their children to put the parent
company, Snap Inc., on the hot seat. Snap Inc. has responded by ramping up
efforts to block drug dealing on its platform. How successful they will be
remains to be seen, but they have made one very eye-opening contribution to understanding
why their users are easy prey for online drug dealers.
They commissioned a survey,
titled: Key Findings from Research on Dangers of Counterfeit Drugs and Fentanyl
among Teens and Young Adults
Here are few eye-opening highlights:
Only 40% of Gen Zers knew that fentanyl was used in counterfeit
painkillers.
Only 37% believed fentanyl is extremely dangerous, while
61% believed that heroin is dangerous and 50% knew that cocaine is dangerous.
15% said they had already abused prescription drugs. 20%
had thought about doing it and 40% said that they knew a peer who had abused
prescription drugs.
84% said that coping with stress and anxiety is a reason
people may abuse prescription drugs.
Who would they go to discuss their stress and anxiety?
74% would talk to a close friend. 57% would talk to a
trusted adult. Only 28% would seek help from school-based resources.
Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for
Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug
overdose deaths in the United States during the 12-month period ending in
April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same
period the year before.
No data exists that can tell us how many people are
currently opioid dependent. When families discover that one of their own is an
addict, they tend to view it as a dirty little secret that would bring shame
and ridicule if it became known.
No data exists that can tell us how many teenagers, in the
last 12 months, have used the internet to purchase what they thought was Xanax,
Percocet, or OxyContin just to take the edge off the stress and anxiety that they
are struggling to cope with.
No data exists on how many shoplifters, catalytic converter
thieves, porch pirates, and internet scam artists stealing from Watertown
residents and businesses are drug users trying to support their habit.
No data exists on how many drug-related crimes, especially
violent crimes, have been prevented by proactive police work or what increase
in resources are required to prevent those crimes in the near future.
No prediction can be made as to when the first fentanyl-related
overdose death will happen here. And, unfortunately, that’s what it might take to
get the attention of the politically uninvolved and even our elected
representatives.
Maybe we will get some kind of early warning − a middle
schooler caught sharing opioid pills, he or she bought from a Snapchat dealer,
with a friend in a school bathroom or outside in the parking lot.
Or a parent performing a public service by going public
about their athlete son or daughter becoming addicted to fentanyl while coping
with the physical and mental pain of a season-ending injury.
Those are just a few of the early warnings that happen
every day, somewhere in suburban America, as urban gangbangers, supplied by
Mexican cartels, continue getting richer without ever having to show their
faces.
Bruce Coltin, The Battle for Watertown
