OHIO POLICE FIND DEADLY HEROIN MIX

COLUMBUS - Police here and in Mansfield have found a painkiller-laced
heroin that has killed addicts in Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia.

The drug fentanyl turned up in six of 10 batches of heroin
confiscated by Mansfield police, said police laboratory director
Anthony Tambasco. The lab started testing for the drug just before
Memorial Day after hearing of numerous recent deaths in Detroit, he said.

Columbus police have discovered at least three cases of heroin mixed
with fentanyl in the past month, crime lab manager Jami St. Clair said.

Fetanyl can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin, said Columbus
Police Sgt. Steve Overholser.

The drug can be lethal just on its own, and matching it with heroin
makes it even deadlier, said Mansfield Police Sgt. Mike Bammann.

The Detroit area is the apparent hub of the problem, with more than
100 confirmed cases since last fall.

In Chicago, there have been more than 60 confirmed fentanyl overdoses
since April 2005, with the vast majority of them coming this year,
the Drug Enforcement Administration said. Deaths caused by
fentanyl-laced drugs have also been reported in Missouri, New Jersey,
Delaware and Maryland.