Officials: Most crimes linked to drugs

April 5, 2005
By Gordon D. King
Staff Writer

Drug use is on the rise and crime is on the upswing with it, according to area police, prosecutors and judges who say users are committing more burglaries and robberies to support their addictions. “The craze at one time was crack and cocaine. Marijuana is still around but the prime drug is now heroin because it is easily accessible, it’s cheap, easier for dealers to [sell] and not as easy to detect,” said Northfield Police Chief Scott Hilliard. The low cost and easy availability, he laments, is helping to fuel its abuse among teens.

Tilton Police Detective Sgt. Farrington agrees that the drug is proving popular because it is both plentiful and inexpensive. A bag of heroin, he said, can be bought in the bulk of Massachusetts cities for less than a six–pack of beer. Heroin is making its way into the state from the Lowell/Lawrence, Mass., area, according to local, state and federal law enforcement officials. Increasing purity, authorities say, allows the drug to be smoked or snorted. Once the needle is out of the equation, the taboo of using the drug disappears, lowering people’s aversion to trying it.

Easy access off Interstate–93 has contributed to ready access to heroin in the Lakes Region, according to police. “We always have had our share of cocaine, marijuana and crystal meth, [methamphetamine] but now heroin is becoming more common,” said Belknap County Attorney Lauren Noether. Drug–related crimes are up, she said, and now violence is being included in the mix.

“In the past couple of years we have seen a greater influx of felonies, which were drug–related. They include robberies and burglaries. The recent robberies in Belmont and Laconia were both allegedly committed by woman for drug money,” she said.

Noether said she is also concerned about the greater number of young adults abusing prescription drugs. “You listen to the people in court and you learn that there are a lot more people who are self–medicating. People are trading pills and the unknown effects of that are scary,” she said. Harold W. Perkins, the supervising judge for Belknap County Superior Court, says he, too, has seen a substantial increase in drug cases, especially those involving hard drugs. “There has always been marijuana around but now it’s cocaine, heroin, Ketamine and Oxycontin. It’s the resurgence of heroin, which scares me the most. It’s far more addictive. It has become the drug of choice and the consequences are far more serious. It brings about other crimes,” he said.

Former Belknap County Attorney Edward J. Fitzgerald III who is now a judge sitting in Merrimack County Superior Court says he is experiencing the same trend. “In the past six or seven years, we are seeing harder drugs being used and more drug–related crimes being committed.” Merrimack County Attorney Dan St. Hiliare said his office has witnessed a 69 percent increase in the number of indictments for drug–related crimes in the past year. “Heroin is very accessible now and we are having a real problem with young people abusing alcohol,” the prosecutor said. While New Hampshire consistently ranks among the safest states in the nation because of its low crime rate, it is not immune from drugs.

Tilton Police Detective Sgt. Michael Farrington says 85 percent of the crimes in his community are drug–related.

“A couple of months ago, a kid was arrested for breaking into a house to support his drug habit. The Big Apple store robbery was heroin–related. Forgery, stolen checks — they are all drug–related and heroin is the biggest problem,” the detective said.

Laconia Police Sgt William. Clary said his experience parallels other law enforcement officials: Drug–related crimes are on the rise. “The thefts and petty burglaries are drug–related. The number of robberies and burglaries are up. The robberies are definitely drug–related.”

Chief Hilliard, like his counterparts, said burglaries are escalating. In several cases, he said, the lure of drugs has proven so strong that he has investigated relatives stealing from one another to buy them. A high percentage of the thefts are for items that can easily be sold for cash, allowing abusers ready access to drugs, he said. Construction job sites where tools and other building materials are readily available have become a common target, he said.

The stolen items are taken to pawnshops in the southern part of the state where questions are rarely asked, according to Lakes Region police who are quick to add that pawnshop owners in Central New Hampshire are cooperative and will call authorities if they are suspicious about an item that is brought in.

Area law enforcement officials say drug–related deaths are also going up. Police Chief Hilliard said he had two deaths and two near–deaths related to drug use in the past year. The chief said the man’s family discovered one victim who had been using crystal methamphetamine dead in bed. A second death was the result of heroin. Tilton reported one heroin–related death last year. “Earlier this year we had a death which was caused by heroin. The family got mad at us for not finding out who got him the drugs,” said Laconia Police Sgt. Clary. Franklin Police Chief Nelson Forest said a cocaine death was confirmed last year, as were a series of overdoses linked to methadone.

Since 1995, drug deaths in New Hampshire have increased by 300 percent, according to Dr. Thomas Andrew the state’s Chief Medical Examiner. While statistics for 2004 have not been finalized, Andrew said drug deaths are on track to outpace motor vehicle accidents as one of the leading causes of mortality in New Hampshire. In 2003, the most recent statistics available, 110 drug–related deaths were recorded in the state, Thomas said.

Heroin is not the only highly additive drug causing problems in the state. Recently police broke up a crack cocaine ring involving two New York men who authorities allege were attempting to set up a sales network. Methamphetamine, an addictive stimulant made in illegal laboratories, is also becoming more readily available. “It is more common now. There’s a lot of it around here,” said an undercover police officer and a member of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force who asked not to be identified.

Chief Forest said cocaine can still be readily found in the area but one of the more common areas of abuse is prescription fraud because of the ease of photocopying doctors’ prescriptions. The Franklin chief said methadone prescribed to heroin addicts or for chronic pain conditions is making its way to the streets. “It’s become dangerous. People who [legitimately] get the drug are selling it,” he said.

Chief Forest said the popularity of drugs appears to be cyclical. When you get rid of one, another takes it place. “If the dealers have a clientele, it will keep coming into the area,” the chief said. Area police actively work to disrupt illicit drug activity. They work closely with state and federal agencies on investigations like the one which led to the arrests and convictions of 20 people involved in a drug distribution ring headed by Philip Puopolo of Belmont.

Chief Forest said most small police departments are not financially equipped to handle drug investigations that frequently require lengthy surveillance and ready cash for drug buys. Federal grants, he said, are on the wane.

“We have almost become a society of accepting this. I have never seen it so bad,” he said. While law enforcement is occasionally winning a drug battle, Forest believes the war is being lost.