By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Powdered heroin. Blow dope.
The drug is showing up in a new form locally, reportedly found most often among young people.
Police have encountered a sudden spike of it in Lewis County, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.
“Apparently you can blow on it, or add some moisture and then smoke it,” Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke said.
O’Rourke says it’s essentially powdered heroin, that clumps up when mixed with water.
“Law enforcement suspects it might be a new arrival, maybe easier to smuggle as powder,” he said.
O’Rourke said he saw his first case yesterday when he charged a 20-year-old man who was arrested Sunday in Winlock for allegedly selling it.
Matthew C. Gilmon was ordered held on $20,000 bail when he appeared briefly in Lewis County Superior Court. He is charged with two counts of delivery of heroin, an offense with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
According to charging documents, Centralia police came across an individual early last month who was willing to work with them on undercover buys.
Once officers watched the “confidential informant” drive to the Subway next to Jack-in-the-box in Chehalis, where he or she parked, got into a maroon Volkswagen Jetta and emerged with $20 worth of the powder in a small tin foil bindle, according to charging documents.
Two weeks ago, the same informant approached the same suspect and purchased more, all while under police surveillance, charging documents allege. The price is not mentioned in the second transaction.
The brown powdered substance has an odor of vinegar, consistent with being heroin, according to the documents. The suspected narcotics field tested positive for heroin, the documents state.
Centralia Officers Lowrey and Haggarty on Sunday contacted Gilmon at his last known address, on Lane Drive in Winlock, according to O’Rourke.
Under questioning, Gilmon denied delivering heroin, but subsequently said he does help out friends who are “sick” by giving it to them, according to charging documents.
He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.
O’Rourke admits he doesn’t know much about the so-called blow dope, since it’s new.
The powder will be tested at a lab, he said.
“That’s what they’re calling it on the street, I guess we’re gonna be seeing that pop up,” he said yesterday.
Gilmon, whose address is listed as in Chehalis in his court file, is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
this just made me realize how little the police actually know without informants. if people would just do their own time everyone would be alot better, gun powders been around for years…lol
Jackass
The Cartel Oops, I mean Federal Government hates competition. Link to Video of US Troops Guarding Poppy Fields. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChIF6yvTL6k Call Lewis County Crime stoppers and tell them the Dope is being shipped in by the CIA.
Agree with monkeys uncle!!
Love how Disgusted refers to “unemployed welfare moms” with no mention of the fathers…and what did all that bs have to do with this new dope anyways…?
Disgusted, you sound like the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. It’s funny, you’re in reality,just a marginal small town pecker wood!
I always thought most heroin except Mexican black tar and the infamous Chinese Rocks of the 1970’s was commonly in powder form.
I wonder if that’s the same stuff that the guy in Onalaska OD on last weekend?
Its not blow dope, its called gun powder!! It’s sold all over Portland area, and is a potent refined version of heroin, kind of like china white!! When it was brought to Eugene Or. people were overdosing all over cuz it was a lot stronger than what they were use to!!
I have experienced several severe traumas throughout my life. Shit I can’t even talk about it was so horrendous. I still work to support myself and my family, and I always have. I don’t believe those experiences entitle me to a free ride, although I could probably get on the dole if I wanted to. Frankly, it isn’t enough money for me to live the way I want to live. Maybe that’s the point. If it were lucrative, then nobody would ever be motivated to get back to work.
The test would be to cut the flow of money off to all welfare and SSI recipients and see who would get out there and do something – were they left with no other choice. You’d be amazed at what many “disabled” people could actually do. I personally know several people that are perfectly capable of working, but they choose not to because they would rather take the free money. LOL These people are too “disabled” to work, but not so “disabled” they don’t stop having kids. They gamble at the casino, buy drugs, alcohol and cigarettes and otherwise spend my hard earned (taxpayer) money in many unacceptable ways. This may not apply to you. If so, good for you!
And although I admit that I often speak in generalizations, these generalizations do not always apply to every person in the category I criticize. However, because these generalizations DO apply to the majority in that category, I find them appropriate and make no aplogies for them.
If you are working to better your life and your children’s lives and trying to get yourself out of a rut by seeking assistance, you are rare among your peers. If you actually accomplish what you set out to do and eventually become a contributor to, rather than a recipient of, the system – then you are exactly the kind of person these programs were originally intended for. Sadly, people today do not have the same values or work ethic they did a generation or two ago and the vast majority on welfare and SSI have no intention of ever providing for themselves or their offspring.
im on welfare simply because i do not have enough to make it without it. im not a bad person and im in school working towards a rewarding job. doesnt make me a bad person because im on welfare. what would make me a bad person is if i used it for any other reason besides caring for my children. its not fair to lable welfare mothers bad. i cant work due to a mental disability that was caused by severe truama. im working through it to be able to work again so dont bash us who are trying with what they got.
Between this and the tweakers, do we even have a chance? I’d love to split the planet and put all the criminals, unemployed welfare moms and thieving dope fiends on one side and everyone else on the other. Build a big-ass fence to keep them out. Let them fend for themselves and they will destroy each other in no time flat.
Thats just what we need in our community ugh…..