Meth, and Gangs: Are They Taking Over Our City?
For a long time now, there was a news story every day about a meth lab bust in our area. That hasn't changed, but in fact, increased in frequency. Now, over the paast few weeks, gangs have been in the news.
Within the last week, eight people have been arrested on the city's south side for gang violence. The EPD has been investigating one south side gang for months, a group known as the "LA Zombies" in the Linwood & Adams Avenue area, which is right in the heara of the neighborhood I grew up in.. The “LA Zombie” is made up of about 20 members, some of which are as young as 12 years old. They said there have been several fights and shootings between the LA Zombies and a rival gang called "Murder Squad."
Over the weekend, two confidential sources helped them arrest four gang members. EPD said Randell Frances and Dalarrius Jackson are charged with criminal gang recruitment and criminal gang activity. The other two arrested, John Robertson and Davontae Clardy, are both 16 years old. While they are technically juveniles, police say under Indiana law they will be tried as adults.
Police have also arrested suspects involved in several south side shootings last week. We're told those incidents may have resulted from a feud between J-Block and Wag-Block gangs. WTF? Gangs have been around as long as there has been crime. Not in our little safe haven though. Things are changing and not for the better.
As far as the local meth heads, meth users are now starting to strain their own urine to get high. EPD says they have only found a small incident of this nauseating trend here locally, but it certainly is not a new process. Police in New Mexico recently discovered meth users running "urine extraction" labs. The first indication of the new trend came when deputies opened up a smelly rented storage locker where they found 50 1-gallon jugs of urine. Police told the owners to throw away the contents, which made them physically ill.
It's the newest way to access meth. Some users drink the meth-tainted urine to get high while others use the cooking process to filter the drug back out. Disgusting. But Meth is a disgusting drug. Now, what can you do to help turn baack the trends of violence and drug use that are enveloping our area. Be vigilant and report suspicious activity to police. If you stand idly by, then you become complacent and that makes the problem grow.
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