Ron Broadwater

"Heroin, in the last couple of years, has taken off in the U.S. in general," said Ron Broadwater, a special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation."The heroin problem is here - we have to address it as best we can."

Broadwater, who has 15 years of experience working in and around the area's drug subculture, said most of the drugs found in Tuscarawas County come from Canton and heroin is no different.He said heroin - a substance processed from morphine, which is derived from the poppy plant - comes out of New York City from overseas or South America and goes to Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Youngstown, where it's distributed to smaller areas.
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Broadwater and Hipp agreed that the reason heroin seems to be making a comeback is because Oxycontin - a synthetic form of heroin - is harder to get.
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Oxycontin is a synthetic form of heroin that is purer and stronger," Broadwater said."If a person is addicted to heroin, he is addicted to Oxycontin - they go hand in hand."

Broadwater said Scales admitted that he used people's dependence on Oxycontin to establish his heroin trade.The added regulations pertaining to Oxycontin have made the pills harder to come by.

"Now that they've cracked down on the Oxycontin, heroin is coming in," Broadwater said."The Oxycontin abuser is a heroin addict.Both habits are very expensive."

Broadwater said Scales had customers who spent $300 to $500 per week on their heroin habit.
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It all runs together," Broadwater said.
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Broadwater said there is no way to know how many drug dealers there are.He said any addict is a potential dealer.

"Once a person is addicted to heroin or Oxycontin there is no other drug out there any worse," he said."It's like other drugs - you start by taking a little, then you have to take more and more."

Broadwater said he helped bust a large Oxycontin ring in Guernsey County last year and he's been involved in a large heroin investigation in Carroll County.

"(Addicts) are people you wouldn't believe," Broadwater said, noting he recently investigated two people in their 50s.

Mark Gross of the Ohio State Patrol and Agent Ron Broadwater of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations.