Efforts Ongoing To Clean Up Opioid Den Taking Up Four Blocks Near Downtown Miami
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – What's become known as the 'opioid den' under the Dolphin 836 Expressway in Miami is starting to change.
The Homeless Trust reports 26 people have been moved from the underpass into drug treatment beds and housing.
The four block area off Northwest 14th Street not far from the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami has become a health and human crisis in recent months, with people openly having sex and shooting drugs in broad daylight.
While nearly half of the people living there have been moved, the chair of the Homeless Trust, Ron Book said Wednesday it's not enough.
"It's not enough and not enough to satisfy me. I've seen mothers having to walk their children through here to school," he said
Booker T. Washington high school is just one of the schools located blocks from the area, and children have reported having to walk by seeing people openly having sex and shooting up drugs.
Miami-Dade schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho took to social media saying "the district is doing increased security and inspections of school grounds" where spent needles have been found.
And Miami-Dade state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle visited the site this week and posted pictures on social media with a pledge for more help.
Book said it may be a mistake to remove the barriers blocking the streets too soon because he fears new people will move in as existing residents are moved out.
