POLICE: DRUG ACTIVITY IN COUNTY JUMPS

Number Of Busts Increases During Typically Slow Time

Winter is usually a slow time for drug-enforcement agents, but local
police said heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs are on the rise
this year in St. Clair County.

St. Clair County Lt. Ron Muxlow of the department's drug task force
said heroin, in addition to gaining popularity with teenagers, is
responsible for several drug overdoses in the past three or four months.

"We're getting information that younger kids, especially high school
kids, are experimenting with heroin," he said. About three months
ago, a 15-year-old Marine City girl was arrested after her mother
discovered more than 20 bindles, or individual doses, of heroin.
Muxlow said police believe the girl was buying the drug in Macomb
County and selling it to fellow high school students in the area.

"We believe with that amount she was definitely selling," Muxlow said.

The department requested charges against the girl, but it is not
known what charges she faced. Muxlow said he did not release
information about the girl's initial arrest because she was a minor.

In addition to the drug busts and deaths that occurred locally,
Detroit police are investigating the Feb. 20 death of a 29-year-old
Marysville man, who was found dead in a borrowed Jeep Cherokee parked
near Wayne State University in Detroit. His mother, Cheryl Walker of
Niles, Ohio, said police told her that her son, Jason Walker, died
from heroin laced with fentanyl, a potent anesthetic that can cause
fatal overdoses when mixed with heroin.

The Detroit Police Department is handling the investigation.

Police don't know exactly what's causing the increase in drugs seized
during raids, but Muxlow pointed to a prolonged poor economy, new
residents moving in from Detroit and an increase of out-of-city drug
dealers as contributing to the problem.

"We're just getting slammed out here," Muxlow said.

January and February, typically two of the slowest months, has
resulted in a six raids in the past two weeks.

In addition to crack and marijuana, Muxlow said police confiscated
more than $100 worth of heroin and methamphetamine, two drugs that
were not found during the same time last year.

In addition to heroin, Muxlow said other drugs, especially
methamphetamine, also seem to be more common.

Two working meth labs have been raided this year in Kimball Township.

Police arrested two men in early January in connection with a working
meth lab found Jan. 2 on Griswold Road. Charges against 50-year-old
[Name redacted] include possession and intent to deliver
methamphetamine. A second man who lived on the property was charged
with frequenting a drug house.

On Feb. 7, police arrested 41-year-old [Name redacted] for operating
a meth lab from a garage on an adult-foster care home on Lapeer Road
in Kimball Township.