OFFICIALS: 4 DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUG OVERDOSES

NORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Authorities suspect a deadly batch of
illegal drugs circulated in Pulaski County after five drug overdoses,
four of them fatal, occurred over the past week.

Evidence suggests the overdoses resulted from a dangerous combination
of heroin and cocaine, called a "speedball," police say.

Two men died in North Little Rock on March 18 after possibly obtaining
drugs from the same dealer, police said.

Another North Little Rock man and a fourth man in rural Pulaski County
died Friday night. Authorities also were investigating a fifth
overdose over the weekend.

Investigators with the North Little Rock Police Department and the
Pulaski County Sheriff's Office were trying to determine if the four
deaths were related.

"We're concerned about the possibility that there may be a
potentially dangerous batch of drugs out there," said North Little
Rock police spokesman Sgt. Jim Scott.

"We're asking anyone in the public who comes into contact with any
suspiciously packaged drugs to contact local authorities."