New charges of felony drug trafficking were brought this week in Edgartown district court against three defendants charged in one of the biggest heroin busts in Vineyard history.
At the same time there is evidence that the arrests and confiscation of heroin has led to a higher rate of people seeking treatment for drug abuse and withdrawal on the Island.
The Cape and Islands district attorney’s office this week charged Garrett Gibson, 24, Alexander Carlson, 21, and Rosaline Gaspar, 24, with single counts of trafficking heroin (class A substance) over 100 grams. They are among six defendants — three from the same family — who were arrested last month for allegedly running an elaborate drug operation out of a Vineyard Haven home.
A conviction of trafficking heroin over 100 grams carries a mandatory jail sentence of between 10 and 20 years.
The Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force on Nov. 18 raided a home on Spring street and arrested six people while seizing 133 grams of heroin, approximately $45,000 in cash, two rifles and 18 grams of marijuana.
Arrested were Kaleb Garde, 24, Hannah Garde, 22, and Daniel Garde, 19, as well as Gibson, Carlson and Gaspar. Kaleb Garde has already been charged with trafficking heroin over 100 grams, as well as conspiracy to violate drug laws, and dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school or child center.
Daniel Garde was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of prescription drugs, possession of heroin and dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school or child center. Hannah Garde was charged with intent to distribute heroin, conspiracy to violate drug laws and dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school or child center.
In addition to the recently added charges of trafficking heroin, Mr. Gibson, Mr. Carlson and Ms. Gaspar are all facing charges of conspiracy to violate drug laws and dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school or child center.
Cape and Islands first district attorney Michael Trudeau said this week the new charges arose from the same investigation that brought the initial charges against the six defendants. Mr. Trudeau said all the defendants were back in the Edgartown courthouse on Monday for pretrial hearings and were assigned a March date for their next pretrial hearings.
He could not comment on whether some or all charges will be moved up to superior court, although it is customary for the district attorney to seek indictments from a grand jury in heroin trafficking cases. All six defendants are currently out on bail, according to court records.
Meanwhile, last month spokesmen for the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital confirmed a spike in the number of emergency room visits from people suffering from apparent symptoms of drug withdrawal.
Tom Bennett, associate executive director of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, said this week there has been a noticeable jump in the number of requests for substance abuse counseling since the heroin arrests — especially in the last week. He said approximately half of all the requests for services over the past two weeks have been substance abuse related, a sharp increase.
“It just makes everyone realize how serious this subject of addiction is on the Island, and how much we all need to pull together as a community on many different levels to address this and help people suffering from substance abuse to live satisfying and productive lives,” Mr. Bennett said.
John G. Early, president of Vineyard House, a sober house for recovering addicts, said this week there was also a brief spike in people seeking spots in the recovery center following last month’s heroin bust.
“We did have a brief period where we couldn’t accommodate everyone looking to be residents, but that only lasted a few days,” he said.
Mr. Early said some of the new residents at Vineyard House in recent weeks needed more help than was available there and were sent off-Island to a detox center.
Vineyard House is in the middle of a $3 million capital campaign that would transition three older houses into a new, consolidated facility, where people in early recovery from substance abuse can be divided into male and female quarters.
Mr. Early said plans do not call for the creation of a detox center, nor is there currently a detox center anywhere on the Island. The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in years past provided a full detox center, and then offered an outpatient center, which has since been discontinued.
The closest center to the Island is the Gosnold treatment center in Falmouth.
Mr. Early said while drug addiction is a deeply rooted problem on the Vineyard, he is not convinced the Island needs its own detox center. “That sort of facility costs a lot of money to build and also costs money to run,” he said.
Amy Lilavois, an Island counselor who works with Vineyard schools and helps teenagers with substance abuse, said there have been cases in the past of students coming forward to report that they or someone they know is having a problem with heroin. She said some students did come forward following the recent drug arrests to talk about various drug-related issues.
Ms. Lilavois said the school system offers a number of educational programs to students and teachers who want more information about substance abuse. She said it was hard to determine if drug use is up or down among students, but a recent survey conducted by the youth task force found marijuana and binge drinking slightly down on the Vineyard among young people.
“Drug use is an issue here. I won’t say it isn’t. But if you look at the survey it says there are more students who are not using than those who are. I think there is the perception that everyone in high school is using drugs or alcohol — that it’s the social norm. But that’s simply not true,” she said.
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