West Texas: 'Grandmother of Heroin' arrested

Lidia Alvarez "Midland's Grandmother of Heroin" Lidia Alvarez "Midland's Grandmother of Heroin" Photo: Courtesy: MCSO, DEA Photo: Courtesy: MCSO, DEA Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close West Texas: 'Grandmother of Heroin' arrested 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

DEA officials arrested a 79-year-old woman dubbed West Texas' "Grandmother of Heroin" and her 54-year-old son earlier this week with more than 21 ounces of smack.

The DEA estimates that the drugs are worth $150,000.

Young said the mother and son are being held until they can be brought in front of a federal court.

Sorianello called the arrests a big achievement.

"These people were probably the biggest heroin traffickers in Midland County at this time," DEA agent Dante Sorianello said. "They'll probably be replaced, of course, but that amount of heroin equates to approximately 8,400 dosage units. Some addicts would take four to five a day, but when you get into the thousands you're talking a lot."

The case was forwarded to the DEA by Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter after 19-year-old Midlander Haley Brianne Kemp died from a heroin overdose in June.

Painter said that he worked with the DEA because federal charges carry longer sentences.

"They have a stricter law regarding contributing to a person's death by the use of narcotics," Painter said. "Anytime that we find someone who died of an overdose, if we can find the name of the person who provided them with the drug, we are going to go after them in federal court. I'm hoping (the Alvarezes) get 20 years to keep them out of the community."

At the time of her arrest, Lidia Alvarez was on federal probation for a June 2006 drug trafficking conviction, according to the website FindLaw.com.

The Alvarezes were arrested in connection to an investigation pertaining to Kemp's death. The young woman was found dead off a county road a mile south of Midland's city limits and it was determined she died as a result of a cocaine and heroin overdose.

Her overdose led to the arrest of Christopher Snyder and Robert Aiken, the last two people Kemp was with before her death, Painter said.

The men were arrested June 4 on possession of heroin charges. They admitted to moving Kemp's body after she died, according to police reports.

They were arrested again on Aug. 8 on federal charges of distribution of heroin resulting in death.

The DEA then pursued leads into heroin traffickers in the Midland area.

The Alvarezes have had a history of drug trafficking in Midland, and multiple family members were implicated in the 2006 case, including Alvarez's husband, son and grandson, according to FindLaw.com.

But, although he believes that heroin is dangerous no matter the amount, Sorianello said the main issue the Midland DEA office faces now is the prevalence of methamphetamine.

"(Methamphetamine) is coming into the Permian Basin in multi-pound quantities. You know we have a lot of money coming in from the boom, and drug dealers are taking advantage of it," Sorianello said. "In the last two years, meth has literally taken over the bulk of our investigations."

Republished from the MRT.com