DRUG-RELATED DEATHS PROBED IN TEXAS

HOUSTON -- Authorities are investigating a string of 15 drug-related deaths
over the weekend that may have been caused by a deadly batch of heroin or
cocaine.

"We noticed a cluster of cases coming in," Medical Examiner Joye Carter
said Monday. "What's been reported to our office is not convulsive activity
but feeling bad, going to sleep and not waking up."

Carter said her office is working with Houston police, the Harris County
sheriff's office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to find out
what the drug is and where it is coming from.

The DEA has offered its laboratory facilities to help local authorities
determine which drug is killing users.

"We have special testing labs as far as particular drugs," DEA spokesman
Robert Mansaw said. "We have special testing in those particular areas
where a chemist can detect the presence of those substances."

One victim was found with what appeared to be a heroin-tainted syringe.
Another was found with packets of what police believe to be cocaine.

The victims range in age from 16 to 46 and were concentrated in north Houston.

"As far as the geographical area, it would be too much of a coincidence
that these victims died" in unrelated instances, Mansaw said.

A batch of drugs can become deadly if it is too pure, causing overdoses, or
contains a toxic or poisonous substance used to "cut," or dilute the drug.