Heroin Deaths Prompt Task Force

All last year, there were 53 drug overdoses reported in Ocean County. In the first three months of this year, there have been 43 overdoses - nine of which occurred over an eight-day period in April.

Five of those were related to heroin, according to Al Della Fave, with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

That spike in overdoses has prompted officials with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office to team up with Atlantic County officials to form a task force to tackle what several law enforcement officials have dubbed a heroin "crisis" in the area.

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato has established a northern and southern task force to "communicate across the board with surrounding municipalities about where the product is coming into Ocean County from. We are being inundated from the north and south," Della Fave told Patch.

"Once the overdoses take place, we are being aggressive in tracing back the victim to a specific dealer and aggressively prosecuting," he said.

Deputy Attorney General James Ruberton's office issued a press release last week warning people that the volume of overdoses in such a short time frame may indicate there may be a tainted batch of heroin.

Della Fave said that in some of the Ocean County overdoses, the problem was that "the product is extremely weak, and our concern is people are taking too much in hopes of trying to increase the high. This is causing a big overdose problem."

Coronato announced the arrest of Rasan S. McGee, 22. He was charged with distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and resisting arrest, authorities said.

The charges stem from an investigation that began when Barnegat police discovered Steven Janson, 26, Stafford Township, dead in his red Hyundai Genesis parked across the street from 26 Starboard Avenue. A search of his car produced four bags used for heroin with the stamp "Boom."

"We had one death traced back to Atlantic City, and the link between Atlantic City and the [Ocean County] death is that it was a common brand," Ruberton said in an interview with Patch.

He said that toxicology reports are still expected on the deaths. However, he said officials thought issuing a press release was "prudent in light" of the deaths.

Barnegat Township Lt. Keith Germain told Patch:  "I have been doing [these types of investigations] all the way from the late 90s, and the message is pretty consistent," Germain said. "Any time you are going to taking a drug that is synthesized ... you are taking a serious risk that you are going to die."

Germain said that Barnegat has been very proactive in arresting and prosecuting cases involving drug users, but he said, unfortunately, heroin is a cheap drug that can be "found everywhere." Indeed, Barnegat and neighboring municipalities have seen a number of arrests in recent weeks related to heroin.

Coronato's office is hoping to reduce the availablity to the drug, using a multipronged approach that will involve collecting the information on where the drugs are coming into the county from, building partnerships with local law enforcement agencies, lecturing in schools on the dangers of drug abuse, and, additionally, eyeing legislation to attach stiffer penalties to heroin possession and distribution.

"[Mr. Coronato is] taking an across-the-board approach to attacking this issue," Della Fave said. "In his own words, he said, 'I only have five years and intend to make every day count toward eliminating this problem."