Warren County task force is investigating a large supplier operation. Sixteen area deaths since March have been linked to bath salts and area law enforcement and medical officials say the designer drug remains a problem in the region despite a statewide ban that went into effect in October. The fatalities included nine overdoses from bath salts or from bath salts in conjunction with other drugs; five accidental deaths; and two suicides, said Laureen Marinetti, chief forensic toxicologist for the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory. The most recent death case was from November, after the state ban went into effect, she said. [continues 806 words]
WASHINGTON -- In the pre-dawn hours of May 16, an international anti-narcotics team headed by U.S. agents swept the drug empire headed by Colombian-born Pablo Joaquin Rayo-Montano, arresting the kingpin while he lay sleeping. The operation, the result of a meticulous three-year investigation in at least seven U.S. cities and 10 countries, shut down a massive network that was smuggling tons of cocaine every month into the United States. The billions of dollars spent on a drug war first declared by President Nixon have raised the cost and difficulty of smuggling drugs into the United States, but haven't dampened U.S. demand for drugs or reduced their availability. [continues 836 words]
