HEROIN KILLS 3; OFFICIALS SEEK SOURCE

Three Others In Camden County Were Sickened But Recovered

High Potency Is Suspected

Camden County investigators are trying to find the source of a batch
of heroin after three men died from overdoses and three more were
rushed to the hospital Wednesday.

Two other people also died of heroin overdoses in the last week - a
woman in Magnolia last Friday and a man in Winslow on Sunday.

On Wednesday, two victims died in Camden and one in Gloucester City.
Three men who collapsed in an Oaklyn apartment were revived at Cooper
University Hospital in Camden.

Investigators said they believe most of the heroin had been sold on
Camden's streets. Small bags of the drug found at the scene of the
overdoses had been "branded" by dealers to help users identify the
product.

The brands were Flatline, Exorcist, 24/7, LeanBack, Monkey, Echo, and
Al Capone.

Overdoses typically result when heroin hits the streets with more
potency than normal, acting Camden County Prosecutor James P. Lynch
said.

"That's our suspicion right now," he said. "We'd be surprised if
some sort of poison was being used to cut it."

Heroin and other drugs usually are diluted - or "cut" - with
relatively innocuous substances to maximize profit.

Lynch said the problem with heroin circulating in Camden County could
have started anywhere along the supply chain. But one possibility
could be an inexperienced street dealer who doesn't know how to cut
heroin properly.

If a user buys a bag of heroin not realizing that it's two or three
times stronger than normal, "not only can he have a reaction to that,
it can kill him," Lynch said.

Narcotics and intelligence officers are on the streets trying to find
the source and putting out an alarm to users, he said.

"These are criminals out there selling this stuff to you," Lynch
said. "When people buy illegal drugs on the street and ingest them,
they really have no idea what they are putting in their bodies."