NCJ Number
122569
Date Published
1990
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The drug problem in Yakima, Wash., was the focus of a March 1990 segment of the Mac Neil/Lehrer Newshour.
Abstract
A community of 50,000 people, Yakima has been hit hard with drugs. It has become a key heroin and cocaine trafficking center for the northwestern United States. Yakima's police chief states that the public safety system has collapsed and that the county's murder rate is the highest in Washington State. Felonies have soared by 82 percent over the last 5 years, and city narcotics arrests have more than doubled. The Drug Enforcement Agency estimates that $100 million worth of cocaine is funneled through the Yakima Valley each year. The cocaine originates in Colombia or Mexico, is brought across the U.S. border into California, and then transported to Yakima via the interstate highway system. A police patrol officer indicates that Yakima affords Hispanic drug distributors an ideal location; it is easy for them to mix in anonymously with the region's large population of migrant farm workers. An estimated strength of 100 police officers in Yakima is inadequate to deal with the number of drug dealers which is estimated at 500 to 1,000. Drug offenders have overloaded the court system and caused increased risk to prison inmates and staff. Yakima's leaders are at least trying to distract the community's youth from easy drug money available on the street by emphasizing sports involvement.