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entitled 'Drug Rehabilitation Clinics: Illegal Drug Activities Near 
Some District of Columbia Clinics Undermine Clinic Services and Patient 
Rehabilitation' which was released on July 06, 2004.

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Testimony: 

Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, 
Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives:

For Release on Delivery Expected at 4:00 p.m. EDT Tuesday, July 6, 
2004:

DRUG REHABILITATION CLINICS:

Illegal Drug Activities Near Some District of Columbia Clinics 
Undermine Clinic Services and Patient Rehabilitation:

Statement of Robert J. Cramer, Managing Director, Office of Special 
Investigations:

GAO-04-946T:

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

I am pleased to appear before you today to summarize the results of our 
investigation, performed at your request, of street narcotic sales in 
the vicinity of certain drug rehabilitation clinics in the District of 
Colombia. To obtain an overview of the problem, we conducted physical 
surveillance of five clinics in the District of Columbia and 
interviewed clinic personnel and law enforcement officials. In brief, 
we found that a significant amount of illegal drug trafficking activity 
takes place around these clinics. Patients frequently must navigate 
their way through a virtual bazaar of illegal drug dealing when they 
enter and exit the facilities.

Background:

From April 2003 through June 2004, criminal investigators from the 
Office of Special Investigations (OSI) at the U.S. General Accounting 
Office conducted surveillance at and around five drug rehabilitation 
clinics in the District of Columbia--the OASIS Clinic at 910 
Bladensburg Rd., NE; the D.C. General Hospital at 1900 Massachusetts 
Ave., SE; the Model Treatment Program at 1300 First St., NE; the United 
Planning Organization Comprehensive Treatment Center at 333 N St., NE; 
and the Department of Veterans Affairs Substance Abuse Program at 40 
Patterson St., NE. The OSI criminal investigators who conducted these 
surveillances have many years of experience in the investigation of 
criminal activity, including illegal street sales of narcotics. Most of 
these clinics are located in nonresidential areas and are surrounded by 
parking lots, vacant lots, warehouses and some stores. On a daily 
basis, clinics in the Washington, D.C. area treat thousands of patients 
for a variety of substance abuse problems. We also interviewed 
personnel at three of the five clinics, detectives from the major 
narcotics branch of the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Police Department 
(MPD), and prosecutors from the U. S. Attorney's office in the District 
of Columbia. We conducted our work in accordance with quality standards 
for investigations as set forth by the President's Council on Integrity 
and Efficiency.

Drug Trafficking Observed at Drug Rehabilitation Clinics:

Certain typical patterns of street activity are commonly associated 
with illegal street sales of drugs. Such activity includes, for 
example, a group of people, consisting of one or more drug dealers and 
their associates, who loiter in a particular area day after day. 
Typically, individuals who act as "lookouts," to protect the dealers 
from possible law enforcement interdiction or even territorial 
encroachment by rival drug dealers, occasionally walk away from the 
group and later walk back to re-join it. In addition, customers walk up 
to such groups and exchange money for drugs in hand-to-hand 
transactions, or walk away with someone in the group to complete a drug 
transaction in another location, or circle their vehicles near 
locations where the group congregates, slowing down to make contact 
with narcotics sellers. To the untrained eye, such contacts may appear 
to be innocent encounters between acquaintances, but in reality, the 
participants are engaging in illicit transactions involving exchanges 
of money for drugs.

During more than 50 visits to these clinics, investigators observed 
these types of activities and others that are indications of drug 
trafficking. For example, the investigators saw groups of individuals 
who were loitering in parking lots or near banks of telephones, stores, 
and at bus stops in the vicinity of the clinics. During our visits, we 
observed some of the same people on repeated occasions. Individuals who 
appeared to serve as lookouts would wander away from a group and later 
re-join it. In addition, people driving vehicles would circle the 
locations where these groups congregated, slowing down to speak with 
people on the street. The investigators observed people from the street 
groups repeatedly entering and exiting vehicles that pulled up to them, 
meeting other people on the street and engaging in hand to hand 
contact, or walking away with them, sometimes entering a store with 
them and subsequently leaving the store without any visible sign that 
either person had made a purchase in the store. Some of the drug 
dealers at these locations were brazen about their activities. For 
instance, on three occasions, dealers approached an OSI investigator 
and asked if he wanted to buy drugs.

On one occasion, our investigators observed an individual walking back 
and forth on the streets near a clinic, stopping to engage in 
conversation with many different people. Over a period of approximately 
45 minutes, the investigators observed the same individual continue 
this activity on several streets with various people who were walking 
on the street, or who stopped to speak with him as they were driving by 
in automobiles. Before leaving the area that day, the investigators 
observed this individual open a door of a parked automobile, pull out a 
small brown paper bag, and hand it to another person who gave him cash. 
The investigators then observed this individual count the money that 
had been handed to him.

One clinic is located in an isolated area near a bus stop. There are no 
stores, residences, or other businesses in the area other than the 
clinic. We learned from local police officials that the bus stop is 
known as a place at which illegal drug activity frequently takes place. 
We viewed a videotape made by local police of a drug transaction that 
took place at the bus stop, in which an undercover officer purchased 
narcotics. The officer made the purchase from someone who, while 
appearing to be waiting for a bus, sold drugs to the officer from a bag 
she carried. When OSI investigators observed the bus stop, 
approximately eight to ten people were sitting at the stop and appeared 
to be waiting for a bus. When a bus pulled up to the stop, however, 
none of the people who were sitting there got on board. As the 
investigators continued to watch, they observed other people approach 
the individuals who were seated at the bus stop, engage in conversation 
followed by hand-to-hand contact, and then walk away.

Adjacent to another clinic is a McDonald's restaurant that is known as 
the "McPharmacy" to local law enforcement officials who have reported 
that there is a high level of illegal drug activity in its vicinity. 
Local police detectives reported that the area surrounding the 
restaurant and clinic is a magnet for persons throughout the 
metropolitan Washington, D.C. area seeking to buy and sell narcotics. 
As a result, local police, federal law enforcement agencies, and police 
departments in Maryland and Virginia cooperate in investigating illegal 
drug sales in the area. In fact, a "sting" operation conducted in the 
area last year resulted in the conviction of several drug dealers. On 
repeated visits to this location, investigators saw many vehicles in 
the parking lot of the restaurant with tags from several different 
states and the District of Colombia. However, most of the vehicles' 
occupants remained in the lot and were not observed to enter or leave 
or otherwise do business with the restaurant. Also, investigators 
observed numerous individuals who stood around a bank of pay telephones 
near the restaurant. As the individuals stood there, various people 
walked up to them or drove up in cars. Investigators saw that many of 
the people who approached the individuals near the telephones handed 
something to, and received something back from, these individuals. 
Although the investigators were unable to observe what these people 
exchanged, on one occasion they observed that cash was exchanged for a 
small bag. This activity is consistent with the typical patterns of 
street-level illegal narcotics sales that I discussed earlier.

Clinic Personnel Confirm That Significant Drug Trafficking Takes Place 
Near Clinics:

We also interviewed personnel at three of the clinics who confirmed 
that there is extensive illegal drug dealing activity in the vicinity 
of their clinics. A director at one clinic stated that he receives at 
least one complaint each day from patients who are solicited by drug 
dealers outside the clinic. The director reported that it is especially 
difficult for these patients, who are struggling with addiction, to 
resist the temptations offered by the drug dealers who confront them on 
a daily basis outside the clinic. To alleviate this situation, the 
clinic changed its hours of operation so that more patients can enter 
and leave the clinic early in the day when drug dealers are less likely 
to be outside. Additionally, the clinic's program director does not 
permit patients to remain for more than 15 minutes outside the clinic. 
The program supervisor at another clinic told us that each month, at 
least one patient reports being assaulted in the vicinity of the clinic 
and robbed of methadone.

Concluding Remarks:

In conclusion, significant drug trafficking takes place in the vicinity 
of the drug clinics we visited. Although these clinics are intended to 
help those in need of rehabilitation, patients who seek treatment must 
navigate their way to and from the clinics in an environment in which 
illegal sales of narcotics are daily occurrences. The efforts of 
patients who are seeking rehabilitation, and clinic professionals who 
serve them, are significantly undermined by the criminal activity that 
surrounds them.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased 
to respond to any questions that you or the other Members of the 
Subcommittee may have at this time.

Contact Information and Acknowledgments:

For further information regarding this testimony, please contact Robert 
J. Cramer at (202) 512-7455 or George Ogilvie at (202) 512-9226.

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