Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jun 2006
Source: Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
Copyright: 2006 Courier-Post
Contact:  http://www.courierpostonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/826
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

FEDS GET HANDLE ON HEROIN THAT KILLED 7 IN S.J.

Federal agents and the Mexican government may have stopped the bad 
heroin that's killed at least seven users in South Jersey and at 
least 100 in eight states at its source.

Working together, drug agents from both nations have closed down a 
lab in Mexico that might be the main source of the powerful 
painkiller fentanyl that was fatally added to the heroin, U.S. drug 
czar John Walters said.

Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug 
Control Policy, said Monday in Chicago it's still not clear whether 
the fentanyl was mixed with heroin at the lab in Mexico or after it 
entered the United States. Fentanyl-laced cocaine also has turned up 
in some cities, he said.

He warned drug users that millions of deadly doses of fentanyl-laced 
heroin might still be on the streets. The mixture has caused at least 
100 confirmed deaths from South Jersey to Chicago in recent months. 
Fentanyl might also be coming from other sources, he said.

"There may be more than one source," Walters said. "We think this is 
the principal source."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is testing samples of 
fentanyl seized in a May 28 raid of a suspected 
fentanyl-manufacturing operation near the western city of Guadalajara 
but does not yet have confirmation that the drug is linked to the 
U.S. deaths, DEA spokesman Steve Robertson said.

"We hope to have a break in the case, but we're not sure this is it," 
Robertson said. "This is an ongoing investigation, and we're working 
very closely with local authorities."

Five men, all Mexican citizens, were arrested in connection with the 
May 28 raid, Robertson said.

"Through standard detective work we're looking to make ties into 
what's going on up here" in the United States, Robertson said.

Deaths from fentanyl-laced drugs have occurred in Illinois, Michigan, 
Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, Walters said.

Doctors prescribe fentanyl, a narcotic, as a painkiller for cancer 
patients and others in chronic pain. It's about 80 times more potent 
as a painkiller than morphine.

The drug is also many times stronger than heroin. An overdose can 
slow breathing to the point of death.

Among the people arrested in Mexico was a person Walters described as 
"the chemist." Walters said the size of the fentanyl operation made 
the bust extremely significant.

He said the fentanyl-laced heroin might have been used by dealers 
looking for a competitive advantage on the street, but inept mixing 
- -- or cutting -- of the drug into heroin made it deadly.

The DEA plans to gather police officers and drug enforcement agents 
for a national meeting on the fentanyl problem June 14 and 15 in 
Chicago, Robertson said.

Walters was in Chicago to release a new series of 
anti-methamphetamine advertisements in Spanish and English.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman