Large Piece Of Pogonip Park Closed Due To Heroin Dealing

[Tchort]

Santa Cruz Sentinal

09/04/2009

By Genevieve Bookwalter

SANTA CRUZ -- City leaders closed a swath of Pogonip to the public on Thursday, saying a heroin-selling operation in the popular park had apparently grown so large that it was drawing customers from around the San Francisco Bay Area and adding to an already high risk of wildfire.

"We've got a time bomb down here just waiting to go off," said Santa Cruz Chief Ranger John Wallace.

He said the portion of the park bordering Highway 9, north of and including the Fern Trail, could be closed until winter rains arrive. Five small fires were fought in Pogonip last summer, and city officials fear a larger blaze.

Santa Cruz is in the third year of an ongoing drought, and recent high temperatures have left forests primed for a fire. Compounding the fire risk in Pogonip was an apparent drug cooking-and-distribution camp near Highway 9 where police have made 100 arrests since May, said Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend. He said in drug circles, the area has come to be known as "Heroin Hill."

Most of the arrests have been for possession of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, Friend said. Dealers at the camp have been using makeshift burners -- sometimes only soda cans -- to cook heroin to sell, Friend said. The open flames obviously increase the risk of wildfire among the eucalyptus trees and redwoods.

A number of the dealers arrested there have gang ties and were armed with knives and guns, Friend said. One was a jail escapee. Another told police
he was selling more than $8,000 worth of heroin a day near the railroad tracks toward the bottom of the San Lorenzo Valley thoroughfare.

Friend said the area has become a destination for drug buyers. Mountain View and Richmond residents are among those who have been arrested, he said.

As a result of the closure, residents can no longer walk dogs on the Fern Trail or visit Sycamore Grove. The closure includes all acreage between the Fern Trail and Highway 9 to the north in the main portion of Pogonip. The path and road roughly parallel each other. Sycamore Grove is another, smaller piece of Pogonip on the north side of Highway 9.

Assistant City Manager Martin Bernal said the drug operation grew despite increased police patrols paid for by Measure H, the quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2006 to repair streets, boost public safety and increase security and maintenance in city parks.

"We have over 2,000 acres of open space," Bernal said. "That's a lot of coverage. It's hard to be everywhere 24/7."

In addition, Bernal said, the heroin camp was built away from popular trails. Drug dealers and cooks also figured out patrol schedules and adjusted theirs accordingly, Bernal said. People typically do not live at the camp, he said.

Along with helping prevent a wildfire, the Pogonip closure should allow city staff to begin cleaning up the syringes and empty food wrappers that litter the site, Santa Cruz officials said.

Signs announcing the closure should be posted in Pogonip by the end of the day today, Wallace said.

In downtown Santa Cruz, Central Coast Running store salesman Bryce Jacobsen, 19, said he hits the Pogonip trails almost every day, and that the Fern Trail is "one of the better trails, definitely."

He called the closure a sad statement. The drug makers and dealers "are not only affecting themselves," Jacobsen said. "They probably didn't think about it but suddenly they're affecting the running community, too, which is two opposite spectrums."

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_13267733

 

[phr]

Really? For some reason I find it hard to believe that dealers are cooking and loading shots for addicts.

 

[bagochina]

City leaders are saying a heroin-selling operation in the popular park had apparently grown so large that it was drawing customers from around the San Francisco Bay Area and adding to an already high risk of wildfire.

Next thing you will hear is that marijuana smokers are contributing to the flooding in the Mississippi river valley. Sometimes I really wonder.

 

[Damien]

I believe that it might add to the risk of fire. If the area is dry enough all it takes is something as simple as a cigarette butt to start a fire.

 

[cosmic charlie]

Ive never had dealer cook a shot for me before I bought it over here on the east coast

Is that common practice in Cali ?

 

[Damien]

Ya man, it's delux. Full service. The only trade off is that we have to pump our own gas.

 

[cosmic charlie]

sounds like paradise :D

 

[Hendrix Haze15]

Ive never had dealer cook a shot for me before I bought it over here on the east coast

Is that common practice in Cali ?

haha no, I have never seen or heard of this ever. I'm sure its not true and just bullshit the cops came up with. I'm guessing people go to the park and cop and then get impatient like always and sit there and cook and fix up and whatever amount of flame or heat they are using is raising the risk of a wild fire.

 

[-Guido-]

Really? For some reason I find it hard to believe that dealers are cooking and loading shots for addicts.

I agree. What fucking dealer cooks and loads a shot for a customer? And the cooking is leading fires? You flick your bic under a spoon for a bit and you are good to go. I could see a dope fiend nodding out in the park and his cigarette falls out of his mouth starting a small fire though lol.