Drug-related Deaths and Cases In Houston

Houston's overdose fatalities `the worst;' DEA chief cites deadliness, swiftness

By The Associated Press

(8/28/01) — Two more men who authorities believe may be involved in distributing the potent drugs that killed 15 people in Houston this month appeared in court Monday.

The 15 narcotic-related deaths that occurred over one weekend earlier this month have drawn national attention, including that of the Drug Enforcement Administration's chief of operations, Joe Keefe.

For Keefe, an expert on illicit drug use, the cluster of deaths in Houston was something new in his experience.

"I don't know of any other case anywhere in the country where you had this number of deaths in so short of a time," Keefe told the Houston Chronicle in Tuesday's editions. "As far as I know, Houston, thank God, has been the worst."

DEA officials can list other multiple drug-overdose deaths: a case earlier this year in the Buffalo-Rochester, N.Y., area; one in Plano in the mid-1990s; clusters in Baltimore and Pennsylvania in the early 1990s.

But lethality of the drugs, and the swiftness with which they moved through a community of users, put the Houston overdose epidemic in a special category, Keefe said.

Official have said that a mixture of heroin and cocaine killed those who overdosed in Houston.

So far, seven men have been charged in the drug deaths.

At a bail hearing Friday for one of the men, an FBI agent testified that the deadly mixture of drugs found in one victim was 53 percent heroin, 36 percent cocaine and the rest cutting agents like talcum powder or baking soda.

Officials in the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, including chief toxicologist Ashraf Mozayni, have said most of the victims apparently thought they were ingesting cocaine, not a mixture of drugs.

The DEA has been helping Houston police, working on the drug overdoses through a regional office in Houston and monitoring the unusual case from its national headquarters in Northern Virginia.

A DEA laboratory in Dallas is analyzing the drugs, trying to learn as much as possible about the mixture of substances that proved fatal.

The analysis will be used by the DEA to identify the "signature" of the narcotic-trafficking cartels, probably in Mexico and Colombia that sold the drugs.

Those arrested so far are likely at the bottom of the drug ring and won't have much information to help investigators, Keefe said.

Two men arrested late last week, Benito Almaguer and Baldomero Guajardo, had an initial federal court appearance Monday, a federal official said. They are charged with drug distribution counts. Both men were ordered held until a detention hearing Wednesday.

Bob Stabe, assistant U.S. attorney in charge of the case, said more arrest could follow.

Along with Almaguer and Guajardo, four other men are charged with federal drug distribution counts: Jose Colunga, 19; Charles Martinez, 22; Roman Gabriel Juarez, 23; and Lucas Martinez, 23. All are being held without bail.

Andy Gonzalez, 25, faces state charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance related to three of the deaths.

Stabe said Monday that decisions to upgrade the charges are on hold until results from lab test on the drugs and from the autopsies are returned.

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN)

Authorities say they suspect a deadly form of cocaine or heroin is behind 18 drug-related deaths in the Houston area over the past few days.

"Something really bad is on the street," said Dr. Ashraf Mozayni, director of the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. "It's killing quite a lot of young people."

The victims, most of who lived in the northeast Houston area, ranged in age from 16 to 46. Mozayni suspected the drug might be cocaine, but toxicological tests were not complete. 

Capt. Richard Holland of the Houston Police said that "we know that in a couple of these cases, we're dealing with a combination of heroin and cocaine."

" We don't know what we're dealing with, a bad shipment or a bad group of drug transactions," he said. "You can't attribute a motive until you have all the facts."

Harris County Sheriff's Office Maj. Juan Jorge said authorities are still trying to locate the source and determine the type of drug involved.

 "Is it just too-pure dope? Or maybe it's not even dope," he said. "Is it poisoning?"

 Authorities don't have any answers yet, Jorge said.

A Houston Police Department homicide detective, who declined to give his name, said the deaths were being treated as accidental drug overdoses.

Les Shireman, program director with the Houston Council on Alcohol and Drugs, said: "This whole thing just hit -- boom."

Shireman said the council is warning people to be especially careful.

"There's one of two possibilities: That this drug is very potent and people aren't prepared for it; the other is that it's cut and adulterated ... with some type of toxic substance."

It is the second regional outbreak of a concentrated number of drug-related deaths. Rochester, New York, police Sgt. Cheryl Franks said seven people died of drug overdoses around the city between August 2-7.

One of those deaths was Gregory Coleman, who had been a prosecution witness in the Connecticut murder case against Michael Skakel, a Kennedy cousin. Franks said the deaths involved the use of heroin or cocaine, or possibly both, and remained under investigation.

In Houston, Harris County Medical Examiner Joye Carter said the number of drug-related deaths over such a short period was unprecedented in the area.

Prohibition-related deaths in Houston

There is a killer loose in Harris County.  But we're sure to identify the killer incorrectly.  The stories will say the culprit is drugs but in truth it is a drug war whose results have always been the opposite of its intentions.  The deaths will wear the label "drug related" when they are really "prohibition related," a byproduct of the abdication of responsibility by the government to strictly regulate dangerous drugs.  Our surrender of control of the drug supply to criminals has caused wave after wave of disaster.

There were 60 overdose deaths in the county in June and July of this year compared to 5 last year.  Now in August, at least 14 and possibly as many as 18 in one weekend.  Nationwide, "drug related" deaths have soared from around 2,000 over 20 years ago to almost 16,000 last year.  The government calls this "success."  Meanwhile in Switzerland some 1,000 heroin addicts have been given pure heroin for over 5 years by the government with zero overdose deaths in the group.  Rates of recovery are as good or better than in the U.S. while crime has decreased significantly.  This duplicates results seen in Shreveport from 1919 to 1923 when a similar policy was followed.

Addicts commonly recover to reenter society as productive members with no apparent signs of their previous addiction.  Not one has returned from a coffin.

Jerry Epstein, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas (DPFT), said, "The drug war gets full credit for noble intentions but it must be held accountable for decades of failure.  Many of its supporters are as addicted to this war and as much in denial as any drug addict; they refuse to even defend their actions in open debate."

G. Alan Robison, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the UT Health Science Center and executive director of the DPFT, added, "We should have learned this lesson from alcohol Prohibition when reported deaths from poisoned liquor leaped from 1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1925, but we haven't.  It's time we do."  

HOUSTON

Another victim has succumbed to the deadly combination of heroin and cocaine that has claimed the lives of 15 Houstonians. Guadalupe Saavedra, 33, was found at his home on Aug. 12. He was unresponsive, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office.

Saavedra was taken to Doctor's Hospital Parkway and remained in a coma until Friday, when he died.

A drug test performed at the hospital proved that Saavedra had cocaine, opiates and ETOH in his system.

Saavedra is the 16th victim to be discovered taking the deadly combination of heroin and cocaine.

Harris County medical examiner Dr. Joye Carter determined that Saavedra was the 16th victim connected to the drug overdose "because of history, the zip code (of where Saavedra lived) and the drug found at the hospital."

Carter said that historically cities such as Baltimore, New York and Miami have had drug problems, but this is the first time she's heard of a city anywhere in the United States that has had this many deaths associated with a combination of drugs.

Saavedra, who celebrated his 33rd birthday just days ago in the hospital, reportedly was recently married, and his wife is expecting their first child.

"I just hope no one goes and gets a hold of what my brother did," Saavedra's sister Elizabeth Saavedra said. "We don't want another family to have to go through what we have."

Suspects Charged

The final four of eight suspects charged in connection with the drug deaths will go before a judge Wednesday, according to a News2Houston report.

The hearing is for a probable cause and bail. The suspects are charged with distribution of a controlled substance.

Last week, a judge refused bail for the first four suspects arrested.

The first four suspects remain jailed on federal distribution charges.  

By: Houston Police

Houston police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man at 8001 Creek Bend, #117 at 6 a.m. today (October 20, 2002).

Earl Dillard, 42, who lived at 8000 Creek Bend, died after being shot two times in the torso.

HPD Homicide Division Sgt. H. Kennedy and Officer R. Moreno reported:

Dillard went to the apartment of Robert Vital Williams, Jr. to buy some crack cocaine. The drug transaction turned into an attempted robbery when Dillard pulled from his clothing a large butcher knife and tried to stab Williams. Williams picked up a pistol that was lying nearby and shot Dillard. Williams then called police and waited for them. The case has been referred to a Harris County Grand Jury without charges.

Inc. #150631402
M.D. 10-20-02

RICHMOND, Texas -- Arrests have been made in the murders of a Fort Bend County family. Three people were in custody Thursday for the shooting deaths last week of a man, his pregnant wife and their 5-year-old daughter.

Sheriff's department officials confirmed that the slayings of William Arvizu, 25, Danielle Arvizu, 23, and their daughter Hayley, were drug related. Authorities had disclosed after the Oct. 1 shootings at the Sugar Land-area home that the couple earlier had been under surveillance by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. A 4-year-old daughter escaped the carnage, surviving by hiding from the attackers. Relatives are now caring for her. Danielle Arvizu's family is relieved." The detective told me that he wasn't going to stop until he found them and he did," Danielle's mother, Linda Jones, said. "I hope that they get their justice due. How can anybody do that to somebody, especially a pregnant woman and a little child?" Christopher Torres, 24, described as being from the Houston area, was arrested Wednesday in Houston and held on three counts of murder in the Fort Bend County Jail. Bond was set at $500,000 on each count. Ashley said the woman gave detailed information to detectives about the Arvizu killings and informed police of the involvement of Torres, who also is known as Christopher Luna. Her information also matched details gathered by sheriff's detectives investigating the triple slaying. Houston police notified Fort Bend investigators on Tuesday that an informant had given them information about the killings, including the whereabouts of a black pickup truck that had been seen by witnesses speeding away from the Arvizu home the day of the shootings. Houston police notified Fort Bend investigators on Tuesday that an informant had given them information about the killings, including the whereabouts of a black pickup truck that had been seen by witnesses speeding away from the Arvizu home the day of the shootings.

How Did 15 People Die This Weekend?

ME Investigating Possible Deadly Connection

Posted: 4:12 p.m. CDT August 13, 2001
Updated: 11:36 a.m. CDT August 14, 2001

HOUSTON -- The medical examiner's office is investigating more than a dozen deaths that occurred over a 48-hour period this weekend.

Harris County medical examiner Dr. Joye Carter held a news conference Monday afternoon warning Houstonians about a possibly deadly drug making the rounds in northeast Harris County and northeast Houston, specifically in the zip codes 77093 and 77039.

Carter said that they had received reports of a "cluster of cases" over the weekend, and two more Monday.

The 15 victims, who may have overdosed from a deadly form of heroin or cocaine, range in age from 16 to 46 years old.

Of the victims, 11 were male and four were female. Most of the victims were Hispanic males, detectives told News2Houston. Four of the victims died on Saturday, and 11 died Sunday, including a 16-year-old girl.

Eight of the deaths were outside the city limits. The Houston Police Department is investigating the seven deaths that happened within the city.

Carter said that they had reports of the victims feeling bad, falling asleep and then never waking up. Some of the victims died at friend’s houses, some died at home and others died in motel rooms, according to Carter.

One of the victims was found with a syringe of heroin in his arm, and another victim was found with packets of cocaine in his pocket, according to investigators.

Elvira Mello told News2Houston that her son had come home from hanging out with a friend. He went to take a bath, and that's when Mello found him dead. The friend was also found dead the next day.

Carter and investigators want to get word out about the drugs because they aren't sure if they were bought a while ago and then used this past weekend.

Investigators have two theories that either the drugs were part of a bad batch or that they were too potent. Carter agreed with investigators, citing that the drugs might have been too pure or may have contained a toxic substance.

The medical examiner's office is working with the DEA, the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

Testing is being done on all of the victims to see what type of drug may have caused the deaths. After the tests are done, the DEA will step in to find out where the drugs may have possibly come from.

The medical examiner's office hopes to have all of the lab reports and autopsy results back by the end of the week.

Coroner: Cocaine in Demme's System
by Marcus Errico
Feb 3, 2002, 10:15 PM PT

In a sadly ironic twist, director Ted Demme--whose final movie was the Johnny Depp drug saga Blow--had cocaine in his system that may have contributed to his death from a heart attack last month, the Los Angeles County Coroner has announced. The affable filmmaker collapsed while playing a charity basketball game January 13 at Crossroads School in Santa Monica. He was rushed to a nearby hospital in full cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. He was just 38.Demme's sudden death stunned Hollywood. The initial autopsy from the coroner's office was inconclusive, but indicated the burly director--a former football lineman who carried well over 200 pounds on his sub-6-foot frame--suffered a heart attack most likely triggered by "natural causes." On Saturday, the coroner's office reiterated that Demme had clogged arteries, which contributed to his fatal heart attack. However, the coroner also announced that new toxicology tests revealed there was a small amount of cocaine in Demme's blood stream that may have also factored into his death.Demme's death has been ruled accidental. The nephew of Oscar-winning Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme, Ted Demme's credits included a memorable string of MTV promos featuring Denis Leary and films like The Ref and Life. He won an Emmy for co producing the 1999 TV-movie A Lesson Before Dying. His final and best-known directorial project was last year's Blow, which was based on the real-life story of notorious cocaine trafficker and Pablo Escobar lackey George Jung.Demme had been prepping but never commenced shooting on the sea-based thriller Nautica starring Ewan McGregor and Heath Ledger. He can also be glimpsed in a brief cameo in the upcoming New Line film John Q, which stars Denzel Washington as a desperate father whose limited medical insurance doesn't cover his son's need for a heart transplant. That film opens February 15.Demme's survivors include his wife, Amanda Scheer-Demme, and their four-year-old daughter and two-month-old son.

Three Suspects Charged In Narcotics-Related Deaths

Federal charges have been filed against three suspects arrested by the Houston Police Department in connection with one of several deaths attributed to drug overdoses in the city last weekend.

José E. Colunga (H/m DOB 2/15/82) and Roman Gabriel Juarez (H/m DOB 3/3/78) were arrested on August 15, 2001. Lucas Martinez (H/m DOB 10/18/77) was arrested on August 16, 2001. All three suspects have been charged with delivery of cocaine in the U. S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, under case #H-01969m.

These charges relate to the August 12th death of Jennifer Rivera, 16.

The arrests follow a lengthy investigation conducted by the HPD Homicide and Narcotics Divisions, the Harris County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

The death of Jennifer Rivera is being investigated in conjunction with seven other drug-related overdose deaths that occurred in Houston during a 48-hour period. These eight deaths are among the 16 being investigated countywide as possible drug overdoses. Toxicology tests proved the 16 deaths were linked to a combination of cocaine and heroin ingested by the victims.

JFC/SA 8-17-01