Were Drug Addicts From Puerto Rico Victims Of Treatment Scam?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Puerto Rican drug addicts who have been sent to Chicago with the promise of world-class drug treatment have been ending up homeless, and a state lawmaker thinks they might be victims of identity theft.
Sen. William Delgado (D-Chicago) said one treatment center in Puerto Rico is behind it all, and he's aware of 40 addicts who were sent to Chicago from the city of Bayamón, with a promise of treatment, when in reality they were taken to flop houses.
"Where they're coming from is a misguided program director, who is promising the stars in heaven. Unfortunately, they're falling into the Twilight Zone, and into these flop houses that I've been able to see and witness," he said.
Delgado cited one case in particular
"He was shooting horse tranquilizer, and now he's here in Illinois, living on the streets of Chicago, and he said he's probably going to die, because he has nowhere to stay, and no services," he said. "I don't know how a person in good conscience could send a human being across the water, and come here, knowing that he'd have no comprehensive services."
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The addicts' IDs are taken when they arrive in Chicago, according to Delgado.
"What happened to their driver's license? Where is their ID?" he asked. "Do we have a scam going where they're selling these IDs?"
Calls to local phone numbers the treatment center in Puerto Rico put on flyers went unanswered.
Delgado said there's a lot of investigating still to be done, but the Illinois Department of Public Health and its counterpart in Puerto Rico have been working to help the addicts sent here.
