ROUNDUP IN LEE NETS 32 ALLEGED DRUG DEALERS

OxyContin Involved In Many Arrests; Total Of 49 Sought

Police began arresting 49 people in Lee County yesterday in the
largest local drug roundup in years. Many of the charges involved the
controversial prescription painkiller OxyContin.

Beattyville Police Chief Steve Mays said officers had arrested 32
people by midafternoon.

``For our community, it's a good lick,'' Mays said. ``We're just
trying to take a stand and do what we can to help our community.''

It may take several days to find some of the others charged because
when word of the roundup started spreading, some people probably went
into hiding, Mays said.

Officers with the Beattyville Police Department carried out the
seven-month investigation, making undercover drug buys.

When police started rousting alleged street-level drug dealers from
bed at 5 a.m., several agencies assisted, including the Lee County
Sheriff's Office, Kentucky State Police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms and the Marshal's Service.

The police agencies take part in the Appalachian High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area.

Warrants against the 49 people included a total of 94 charges. That's
an unusually large number for such a small police department, said
HIDTA deputy director David Gilbert.

Mays said it was the largest roundup he could recall in his 11 years
with the department, which has five officers.

Mays said more than half the charges involve OxyContin.

The synthetic morphine has become one of the most abused drugs in
rural areas of Kentucky and some other states the last two years,
contributing to thefts and overdose deaths.

``It's a major problem,'' Mays said.

A state task force has called on legislators to make a number of
changes to curb the problem, including requiring photo identification
or a thumbprint to fill an OxyContin prescription; prohibiting
emergency rooms from distributing more than three days' worth of the
drug; and improving the response time of a computer system police use
to track the sale of controlled drugs at pharmacies.