© 2024 Louisville Public Media

Public Files:
89.3 WFPL · 90.5 WUOL-FM · 91.9 WFPK

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact info@lpm.org or call 502-814-6500
89.3 WFPL News | 90.5 WUOL Classical 91.9 WFPK Music | KyCIR Investigations
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Stream: News Music Classical

To Combat Opioid Epidemic, Feds Open New DEA Office In Louisville

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Wednesday enhanced federal enforcement targeting opioids, including a new Drug Enforcement Administration field division in Louisville.

Sessions said the Louisville Field Division is the first new DEA division established in 20 years. He said it will have about 90 special agents and 130 task force officers focusing on drug trafficking in the Appalachian region.

“This field division will cover key areas: West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee," said Sessions. "These areas covered face similar drug threats, enabling this division to better focus on the particular threats of that region.”

In addition, DEA Administrator Robert Patterson said the administration recently deployed a mobile squad to West Virginia to prevent diversion of prescription painkillers. And the DEA added teams targeting heroin enforcement in West Virginia and Ohio.

Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia collectively have a rate of opioid-related deaths that is more than twice the national average. Last year 5,306 people died from opioid overdoses in the three states.

Tags
Jeff Young is managing editor of the Ohio Valley ReSource, a journalism collaboration led by Louisville Public Media.