DRUG MARKET TAKES HOLD IN SMALL TOWNS;
DEALERS AREN'T ESCAPING THE NOTICE OF AUTHORITIES, WHO ARE SPENDING MORE TIME,
MONEY TO STOP THEM. by STACEY CREASY; CORRESPONDENT
Copyright (c) 1997, The Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc.

PERU, Ind. Dave Van Baalen knows he isn't winning the
war against drugs even in the small towns of central
Indiana.

A Peru Police captain, Van Baalen is the head of the
Miami County Drug Task Force. "For every one we arrest, two
more pop up,"he said. "Anyone who thinks they are going to
run crack out of town is foolish, but it is a war we will
never stop fighting. "

A year ago, it was difficult to find crack cocaine on
the streets of Peru. That's changed.

"All drugs are up," Van Baalen said recently. "Drugs in
general. We are buying everything acid, mushrooms,
marijuana. We have served 15 drug search warrants in the
past two weeks. "

Van Baalen said area police are spending more time,
money and equipment to combat the drug increase and the
resulting rise in drugrelated burglaries and thefts.

Peru isn't the only northcentral Indiana town fighting
a sudden increase in cocaine dealing.

In November, police from several agencies, including the
Miami County task force, raided two crack houses in nearby
Logansport. Van Baalen believes bigcity drug dealers have
been seeking out towns like Kokomo, Logansport, Peru,
Plymouth and Wabash.

"They do have a Mayberry belief with towns like Peru,"
Van Baalen said. "They don't think we have the resources
to catch them.

"They are finding out that isn't true. We have arrested
2530 people on Class A felonies from November to now. "

One drug suspect's relative said her cousin and friends
came to the Logansport area thinking it would be an easy
market to tap.

"They tagged the sticks as a gold mine, but they didn't
have no idea they were being watched," she said.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Bob Land said the Miami County
Force is as aggressive as any force he has worked with.

"I can say they aren't just tooting their own horn.
They go to Howard County, Logansport, wherever they are
needed to get the people dealing in Miami County," Land
said. Although Van Baalen is not optimistic about wiping
out the drug trade in the region, he is hoping to keep the
growth to a minimum.

"Our goal is to keep it down and keep it away from the
kids," Van Baalen said. "We say we have two kinds of drug
dealers here: Drug dealers that have been arrested and drug
dealers that will be arrested. They need to know this is
not Mayberry. "