Investigators Randy Sanders and Chris Bowen of the Highland County Prosecutor’s Office and Chief Deputy Brandon Stratton of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office spoke about current trends in drug enforcement in the county during a Wednesday meeting of the Highland County Drug Abuse Prevention Coalition.

Sanders said fentanyl is the worst part of the current drug problem in Highland County.

“We have information coming in now from the feds that it’s going to get worse,” said Sanders. “They just keep putting more stuff in it and trying to make it more potent, and now every different dealer we get dope from has a different mixture.”

He said dealers are mixing methamphetamine and fentanyl together. He said local dealers do this so their buyers don’t die off as quickly, and cartel members do it to get people hooked on fentanyl.

Sanders said the primary source of the drugs has not changed in a year and that 95 percent of it is still being manufactured in China and 90 percent of that is filtered through Mexico by drug cartels.

“I really won’t talk much about the border, but because of the border situation these cartels can move their members up here at will along with anybody else that’s coming in,” said Sanders.

He said cartel members entering Ohio are not trying to take over the drug trade entirely right away but are trying to link up with existing street gangs and large dealers.

“What you hear about Mexico and the cartels is pretty much true,” said Sanders. “Once you’re in the cartel, you don’t get out, and you do what they tell you or you die.”

Sanders said he was recently assisting with a case in Fayette County that involved a cartel member directing drug deals from prison.

“It’s hard for law enforcement to get good officers on the street on a regular basis,” said Sanders. He noted the prison system has problems with guards that don’t prevent prisoners from accessing cell phones.

“I don’t know how it’s going to be since Issue 2 passed, but what we’ve been seeing recently is the larger marijuana dealers are learning where to get the drugs from and learning how to make money,” said Sanders. He said these dealers have recently started selling psychedelic drugs and amphetamines that he believes are coming from Oregon.

Sanders said meth is still a problem in Highland County. “The meth is still outrageous and keeps going down in price,” he said. “We were working cases with Fayette County buying pounds of meth.”

“The drugs are here, and we’ve just got to figure out the best way that we’re going to deal with it,” said Stratton. “We just try to keep the pressure on and keep it as minimal as possible.”

Stratton said before drugs were flowing as freely through the southern border, local users resorted to over the counter drugs and bath salts. “I know for a fact our deputies had their hands full when those folks were on those types of drugs,” he said. “We were one of the first places in Ohio that had meth, and they actually sent the team from Washington, D.C. to come in and clean up the first meth lab we had down on Taylorsville Road.”

Stratton said the problem of local meth labs dropped off about five years ago when the federal government restricted the sale of pseudoephedrine.

“We need the force of the federal government on that border,” said Stratton “That’s how it’s coming up through here, and it’s being made in China and it’s being funneled through the cartel and it’s hitting all these cities around us, and then they’re bringing it into little hometown Hillsboro.”

“So, if we can keep pressure on the feds there are solutions,” said Stratton.

Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.