Poplar Bluff reports death, 5 overdoses; officials fear tainted heroin

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Police said they believe a tainted batch of heroin has hit the streets of Poplar Bluff, citing one death and five overdose calls in the past week.

“I think this past summer, St. Louis had a number of deaths related to heroin that had been laced with fentanyl. I am worried that because a lot of our heroin comes from St. Louis, we may have gotten something similar,” police chief Danny Whiteley said.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid pain reliever, an overdose of which can cause death by slowing breathing and increasing the levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, according to the FDA.

“It’s like playing Russian roulette,” Whiteley said. “You may get by with it one time, but the next time, it may get you.”

Lt. Josh Stewart of the department’s criminal-investigation division said there is no way for users to tell whether the drug has been altered by just looking at it. Doing so would require chemical analysis, which few addicts have resources to complete.

“There is no way to know. With the prescription drugs, we see a much more controlled dosage, but with heroin — depending on the manner in which it was cut — it’s different every time. There is no set dosage to any batch of heroin,” Stewart said.

While the latest round of overdoses has been exceptionally bad, police said the drug has been a problem in the community for years.

“It seems we are seeing an increase in usage of it. We have been seeing it for years, but recently we have been seeing larger quantities and running into more overdoses. And a lot more kids from all walks of life are using, as opposed to people we know are drug addicts,” Stewart said.

“It doesn’t discriminate. It will ruin the richest home to the poorest home,” he said.

Police also said they are seeing more methamphetamine users turn to heroin as their drug of choice.

“It is kind of shocking for us to see that, because those are guys that are used to ‘upper’ drugs. To see them using an opiate is just not really their M.O. Here lately, we have been seizing larger quantities of ice methamphetamine, our larger dealers are going to jail, so they are swapping to alternates trying to get their normal fix,” Stewart said.

The opium poppy does not grow in Missouri.

The drug is imported by cartels and organized crime from China and the Middle East.

But the effects of the drug are prevalent here, evidenced by increased property crime, domestic violence and in some cases death, police said.

“I would say heroin addiction here locally probably drives 90 to 95 percent of our property crimes. I think if that addiction was thrown out, our property crimes would go way down. Our shoplifting, burglary, thefts from automobiles are almost directly attributed to heroin or opioid abuse or methamphetamine,” Stewart said. “... The drug problem is rampant.”

Police said they hope community members will help them in their fight against the drug by staying vigilant and reporting any suspicious activity in their own neighborhoods.

“Any homes with excessive traffic, report that. We have our narcotics hotline where that can be reported anonymously, and that in itself is intelligence we can use to secure a search warrant and further our investigations. It may be someone we are already looking at; it may be someone we need to look at,” Stewart said.

Whiteley asked residents not to get discouraged if they provide information and do not see immediate results.

“Sometimes people give us information that’s accurate, but for us to have a good prosecution case may take a while. Just because we don’t go get them that day does not mean we are not working on it. We have to make, generally, multiple buys to make a good case in court,” Whiteley said.

The PBPD anonymous narcotics line is (573) 686-8675.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.