Feds say Michigan is Pipeline for Heroin, Prescription Pill Trafficking
Justice Department officials say Michigan is now a pipeline for illegal drug trafficking to states across the Midwest.
Law enforcement officials say Michigan has become a pipeline for illegal narcotics trafficking across the Midwest.
Officials with the U.S. Justice Department say prescription painkiller abuse has been an “acute crisis” for a number of years.
But the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade, says there has been a spike in the problem recently, creating a resurgence in heroin use as well as some addicts search for a cheaper alternative to prescription medication.
Justice officials cite statistics that deaths from heroin overdoses have tripled across the country in recent years. They say last year in Oakland County alone the number of heroin overdose fatalities doubled.
Federal officials add that Michigan has become a pipeline for illegally sending opioid drugs to other states as criminals try to reach new markets and limit interference from rival drug dealers.
Those states include Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Federal officials say they may create a regional initiative to investigate and prosecute the illegal sale of heroin and prescription pills.
