The arrest of seven Northern Kentuckians for drug trafficking has police saying heroin is making unprecedented inroads into the county as the illicit OxyContin supply begins to dry up.

        Of the seven, three were charged with trafficking the prescription painkiller OxyContin and two were charged with trafficking heroin. The remaining two were charged with trafficking morphine and marijuana.

        Campbell County Police Sgt. Bill Birkenhauer, a police officer for 13 years, five of those on the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, said, “This is more heroin than I have seen all my time working in the Tricounty drug unit.”

        The increase in heroin, he said, might be because the availability of OxyContin has dried up, forcing drug abusers and pushers to turn somewhere else.

        Police charged Jeffrey Strong, 20, of Alexandria, with three counts of traffick ing heroin.

        Michael Wilson, 25, also of Alexandria, was charged with one count of trafficking heroin and two counts of trafficking methadone, a controlled substance used to help abusers overcome their addiction.

        But OxyContin hasn't disappeared from the Northern Kentucky drug scene.

        In the bust, police charged Frank “Butch” Pearson, 42, of Newport, with one count of trafficking the prescription painkiller.

        Louis Sauser, 22, of Mel bourne, was charged with one count of trafficking in OxyContin and one count of possession of the painkillers.

        Also charged in the trafficking of OxyContin was Cara Shaw, 24, of Newport.

        “I would say it (OxyContin) has dried up some, but it is still out there,” Sgt. Birkenhauer said.

        Reeve Sams, regional manager for the East Indiana Treatment Center in Lawrenceburg, said the addiction treatment center isn't seeing any fewer OxyContin patients. Mr. Sams said most abusers will use both heroin and OxyContin, depending on what is available.

        “I think a lot of them prefer prescription pills because they know exactly what it is, whereas if you go out and get heroin you don't know what you are getting,” Mr. Sams said.

        After “OxyFest 2001,” a February drug bust in Eastern Kentucky, in which more than 200 arrests were made, officials there began cracking down on the drug.

        Capt. Danny Webb, Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard, said the only change he had seen involving the area's fight with OxyContin is that the supply is down and the price has increased.

        Capt. Webb said a few months ago a 40-milligram pill cost $40. Now, the same pill costs $50.

        “It doesn't seem to be as available as it was,” Capt. Webb said.

        Officials in states affected by abuse of the Schedule II narcotic have met with the drug's maker, Stamford, Ct.-based Purdue Pharma, and some drug users and the state of West Virginia are suing the company.

        Making the drug less available was another eastern Kentucky company's strategy in dealing with its widespread abuse. Lois A. Baker, CEO of Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation in Whitesburg, said when the health clinic company realized the severity of the drug it knew to take action.

        “Eastern Kentucky has got enough problems without this,” Mrs. Baker said.

Tax slump stalls 'The Banks'
Driver pleads guilty in boy's death
Saks called crucial to downtown
School-funding fight back in high court
CPS joins effort to oppose funding plan
Group lobbies for Medicare reform
Juneteenth celebrated with oral history project
Museum room honors slave who learned to read
Shirey picks OMI leader
Train derailment closes Cowan Lake
Valued art work surfaces
7 arrested for OxyContin, heroin
Donations of fans, cooling units soughts
Where to donate fans, etc.
Intent disputed in murder trial
Kentucky Digest
Lebanon building rules to be tested
Local Digest
Private colleges state case
Congrats
Falcons find Daniel Boone perch
More units added for homeless vets