The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office continues to deal with an unusual spike in overdose cases in the county.

Ambulance crews responded to 18 overdose cases in the space of just over a week in LaPorte County.

15 of them involving heroin, and three involving synthetic marijuana. 11 patients were treated with NARCAN, six patients with multiple doses of NARCAN. Three of these patients died;Unfortunately three patients have died as a result of a suspected overdose; a 19-year-old man in LaPorte, and a 24-year-old man in LaPorte  and a 58-year-old woman in rural LaPorte County.

To date, only an extremely small amount of the suspected narcotic has been recovered. Evidence that is recovered will be sent to a laboratory for analysis.

Task Force Sergeant Andy Hynek stated “we have been finding that in a few cases, the scenes are cleaned up before emergency responders arrive which makes this even more difficult. Complicating matters, we are also learning that some people are treating the overdose on their own without every calling for medical assistance.”

Sheriff John Boyd reiterated the call for families and friends of those involved with the heroin drug trade to be watchful of their loved ones. “Obviously this information is unsettling and we take this matter very seriously. It is shocking to see the numbers and see so many affected. We continue to aggressively investigate the overdose cases. Our partners in law enforcement, including the Indiana States Police, LaPorte and Michigan City Police departments, remain as committed as ever to helping stem the tide of narcotics related sickness and death.”