Cops: Crack, heroin dealt from senior homes

Cops: Crack, heroin dealt from senior homes
www.freep.com...

For two years, drug dealers set up shop in three downtown Detroit senior living complexes, selling dope in an organized operation that residents were helpless to stop, officials said Monday

The article goes on to say that dealers deal from senior homes because the seniors were easy to bully into keeping quiet and the high traffic would draw less attention in a multi-unit complexes as opposed to a single residence.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. These thugs terrorize the elderly so they are afraid to report it to the police. I can't imagine someone I love having to live in a place where they didn't feel safe and having to put up with drug dealers, and the addicts who come there to buy the drugs.

It is a sickening thought indeed, I've often said my parents would never end up in something like that, as I refuse to put them there. I can empathize that others have had no choice but there is no honor in something like this. Very harrowing.

How are these dealers able to setup shop in a senior living complex?Are the dealers themselves seniors and do you have to be a senior to live there?
It also so says that the dealers sold drugs to residents,Was grandma down the alley with her crackpipe ,Something is not quite right here.

This, dealers targeting the homes of vulnerable people to set up crack houses etc, is fairly common in the UK. There have been many changes in the way such group homes or complexes are run in the UK, traditionally, both state and third sector (charities and NFP's) owned homes were warden controlled with the warden living on site. Nowadays, the warden is mobile, with more than one home to manage and is no longer accommodated within the complex (only 'close care' ie, actual nursing homes still have 24hr management cover insitu).

Other groups targeted by the dealers include lone-parents with a habit, the mentally ill or 'challenged' with learning difficulties (we are not allowed to refer to them as mentally retarded or even disabled anymore!)

If the situation you describe is in senior complexes that have any form of live in/on site management cover, then I would suggest the manager is either incompetent in post or has an association with the dealers. I'm not saying they are necessarily corrupt, more that they may have been intimidated or provided with an 'incentive'.

One of the worst cases I've encountered was a family of mum, dad and daughter, all with learning difficulties, who had a crack dealer actually move into the property, turn the family into slaves, stole their welfare benefits and physically abused them. Neighbours raised the alarm, not because they were concerned for the family's welfare but because all the visitors to the property were causing a nuisance (to be fair, they may have just used this as the opener, nobody likes a grass!).

Sometimes this type of property hijack does not last long as the dealer is well known to the police who have been 'keeping and eye' on him/her and the relevant agencies are alerted before the legal occupier has suffered too much damage to their lives.

reply to post by virraszto


I was shocked till I saw this was Detroit.

Then I was like "Oh, that makes sense"

I doubt the seniors were bullied in any way, more like paid off, it was probably the crack and heroin dealers grandparents that set it up.

Originally posted by whatukno
reply to post by virraszto

 

I was shocked till I saw this was Detroit.
Then I was like "Oh, that makes sense"
I doubt the seniors were bullied in any way, more like paid off, it was probably the crack and heroin dealers grandparents that set it up.

yeah i agree with you 100% I bet you some of the grandma's and grandpa's were buying the products as well because you know they are in pain so i bet they bought some heroin to relieve the pain if they could not get prescription pain relievers, i bet the dealers prolly just gave some of them a little bit for free to keep quiet.