Three men accused of smuggling 'vinylized' heroin

Three men accused of smuggling 'vinylized' heroin via Miami
Associated Press
March 12, 2004

A federal grand jury indicted three men for allegedly trafficking in 2 kilograms of heroin that had been chemically altered into a vinyl-like slab and disguised as part of a suitcase brought in via Miami.

The indictments, announced Friday by the U.S. attorney's office, name Freddy Alonso Osorio, 45, of Pawtucket, Jaime Humberto Restrepo-Mejia, 34, of Central Falls, and Willingon Rodriguez-Forero, 29 of New York.

The men were arrested last month at a gas station in Pawtucket as Rodriguez-Forero allegedly tried to deliver the heroin-lined suitcase to the other two men.

Federal agents believe the three men planned to chemically reconvert the heroin to its pure form for distribution.

Officials said this is the first known incident involving this type of heroin in Rhode Island. Similar "vinylized" heroin has been discovered at Miami International Airport and at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

At a hearing last month in U.S. District Court in Providence, prosecutors said that on Feb. 12, a U.S. customs inspector at Miami International Airport became suspicious of a suitcase belonging to a man from Colombia.

Customs agents determined a gray slab that fit the contours of an inside wall of the suitcase contained heroin. Further analysis determined that nearly 2 kilograms of heroin had been mixed with a vinyl-like liquid substance and poured into the suitcase where it hardened.

Customs agents monitored the delivery of the suitcase to in Rhode Island.

Osorio and Restrepo-Mejia were indicted with conspiracy to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin and attempting to possess with intent to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin. Rodriguez-Forero was indicted with conspiracy to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin.

Upon conviction, each offense carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $4 million fine.

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Wow, criminal ingenuity has no bounds apparently ... I think their error was giving the suitcase to a Colombian; come on, that's like giving a bomb to an Arab guy and trying to send him through an airport

Maybe it was leaking a foul smelling substance or something? Who knows, good plan but obviously not well executed, having a man on a Colombian passport transport the damn thing shows they must have been seriously cracked out when they thought up the plan

--- G.

This sounds like a clever plan to me.

isnt the first time...

these guys made heroin into furniture

Cops also recovered fake furniture in various stages of being processed back into heroin, along with about 50 kilos of heroin with a $22.5 million estimated street value, police said.

Click to expand...

where theres a profit, theres a way.

"Man, I've been on a crazy binge, I chased half my couch off aluminum foil last week and injected an entire coffeetable!"

--- G.

Wow, this is very clever indeed. I highly doubt the cleverness of FBI/DEA , I think someone ratted them out and that's why they got caught. Bragging is one of the most common reasons ingenious plans get foiled...

Sounds like a really good idea. But it still seems kinda wierd how they figured out it was H. Another thing, would it be possible for someone to make the cocaine doll like in Traffic?

Ya the coke thing has been done, there was an article about them making into some form of plastic or something...they molded dog kennels out of it

but they screwed that up too... empty dog kennels from columbia looked alittle suspicious.

Sounds like a good plan and probably would have worked if a white guy took it, even better if he had a family with him. Ohwell, cya in 10years or so boys.

Cocaine Freebase could easily be moulded like clay since it's not water-soluable. Cocaine dissolved in a bottle of water would be a way of transporting I'd think people would try more often.