13 busted in heroin ring targeting kids

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Thirteen people have been taken down in a major heroin bust targeting dealers selling to teens. And investigators said they are just getting started.

“This is not a problem that is going to go away overnight,” U.S. Attorney Ken Gonzales said.

The problem: heroin and high schoolers.

“Heroin abuse in the city of Albuquerque, and specifically the Northeast Heights and the public school system, has been sneaking up on us for quite some time,” said Gonzales. “Unfortunately it took the deaths of some of our biggest and brightest young people to shine a light on it.”

He said heroin deals are all too common at La Cueva and El Dorado high schools.

“Kids with a little bit more change in their pocket,” said Gonzales.

Parents of teens who have overdosed on the highly addictive drug have spoken all over town. Gonzales took notice. His office is now working with the Drug Enforcement Adminstration, Albuquerque Police Department and State Police to stop the drug deals. And they've dealt a big blow.

Thirteen people have been indicted on federal charges for selling heroin and specifically targeting kids.

“We know that there is a lot going on out there, and I don't expect that it is going to stop with the arrests of these 13 people,” said Gonzales.

An undercover informant purchased several grams of heroin from dealers on different occasions, trading cash for drugs at a fast food restaurant on San Mateo Boulevard and at a home in Taylor Ranch on Albuquerque's West Side.

Two of the men charged are from Española, which is well-known for its own long-term heroin epidemic. Gonzales wants to keep that from happening here,

“If we get to it earlier we won't see the generational issue that we see in Española,” Gonzales said.

Just last week the DEA made it clear that whether it's in the Northeast Heights or Española, the heroin is coming from the same place.

“The manufacture of black tar heroin is almost totally controlled by Mexican drug cartels,” DEA spokesperson Keith Brown said.

The feds said they're also going after people who deal painkillers. They said teens are turning to heroin after getting hooked on those prescription pills because heroin is cheaper but gives them same kind of high.

Previous coverage Thursday July 21:

Deaths and overdoses among Albuquerque teens using prescription painkillers and heroin touched off a federal investigation that has produced 13 arrests, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzales said Thursday.

The arrests mostly involved younger adults in Albuquerque plus two men from Española and a Mexican national. All are charged with heroin trafficking and face prison sentences of up to 20 years if convicted.

“Teenage prescription drug abuse and the concomitant transition to heroin is a scourge that is sneaking into far too many of our families," Gonzales said in a statement released by his office.

According to prosecutors the investigation began in March 2011 following reports young adults, including students enrolled in high schools in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights, were becoming addicted to expensive prescription painkillers like OxyContin and then transitioning to heroin, a cheaper street drug providing a similar high.

The investigation--a cooperative effort of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New Mexico State Police, Albuquerque Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service--targeted heroin dealers alleged to be supplying heroin to young adults, teenagers and other high-school aged children in Heights neighborhoods.

The statement said Haley Paternoster and Michael Duran Jr. where among the teens who had begun using OxyContin before moving on to heroin and then dying from overdoses. It also quotes the New Mexico Department of Health as saying overdose deaths from heroin have been steadily rising among 17- to 24-year-old News Mexicans for the past few years.

Those arrested this week and charged by indictment or criminal complaint are:

• Michael Nafe, 21, Albuquerque
• Nathaniel Paul, 26, Albuquerque
• Jose Torres, 25, Albuquerque
• David Witt, 25, Albuquerque
• Rebecca Corral, 27, Albuquerque
• Isaac Ortiz, 21, Albuquerque
• Jordan Padilla, 23, Albuquerque
• Raelynn Sanchez, 26, Albuquerque
• Anthony Martinez, 20, Española
• Fernando Trujillo, 19, Española

Three other defendants were arrested previously:

• Pedro Enrique Torres-Mier, 29, citizen of Mexico, arrested March 9, entered a guilty plea Thursday to one count of a three-count indictment
• Adam Anthony Vallejos, 20, Albuquerque, arrested May 19
• Eddie Travis Centeno, 21, Albuquerque, arrested May 19