Crime & Safety

Spike in Heroin Deaths is 'Alarming,' Montgomery County Police Say

7 people have overdosed from heroin since March, police said.

By Whitney Teal


More people have died of heroin overdose deaths in Montgomery County so far in 2013, than in the previous three years combined, county police said Wednesday.

“The dangers of using illegal drugs are always present but this recent spike in deaths attributed to heroin is particularly alarming,” Capt. Marcus Jones, director of the county police department’s Major Crimes Division, said in a police news release.

Detectives in the Major Crimes Division, which investigates homicides and sexual assaults, are working closely with narcotics detectives on the overdose cases.

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Seven people in Montgomery County, ages 19 to 45, have died of heroin overdoses since March—with six of the deaths occurring since June 1, police said. The cases occurred across the county with no particular clustering.

It’s not just in Montgomery County, either, police said. Other parts of the Washington metropolitan area are seeing an uptick in heroin overdose deaths, too. Police said they’re working with law enforcement in other jurisdictions to solve the cases.

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“We are sharing information with other jurisdictions on these cases. This is not a problem that is confined to Montgomery County,” said Capt. Nancy Demme, director of the county police department’s Special Investigations Division.

Anyone with information about these cases is asked to call the Special Investigations Division at 240-773-5959.


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