Four people have been arrested for distributing a painkiller linked to Indiana's HIV epidemic, and the Drug Enforcement Administration expects to make more arrests in the coming days.
The Associated Press is reporting Michael Elkins of Cartersville, Ga., and John Morgan were arrested in Henryville on June 16 with four ounces of methamphetamine and 19 Opana pills.
[Elkins] distributed pills of the painkiller Opana in southern Indiana's Scott County, where officials say needle-sharing among people injecting a liquefied form of Opana has driven the HIV outbreak in which about 170 people have tested positive.
Fox59 names the other two suspects as Tyler Turner and William Thrower, who the Indiana State Police arrested Saturday.
The HIV outbreak has infected 170 people in Southeastern Indiana, forcing the state to implement an emergency response, including a regular HIV clinic and needle exchange in the town of Austin, where the outbreak began.
State health officials last week outlined a transition plan from crisis management to long-term health care treatment for residents of Scott County, where Austin is located.
The Indiana State Department of Health had also previously launched awareness campaigns for truck drivers traveling along I-65 and might interact with prostitutes who had the virus.
But law enforcement efforts to stop the spread of HIV have faced hurdles.
Developing trust between Austin residents and health experts and law enforcement has been a lengthy process, as police learned when they should arrest an individual suspected of possessing drugs and when they should stand down and residents became more aware of how the needle-exchange program worked.
Many feared they would be arrested when they exchanged their dirty needles.
That has, in part, made it difficult for health professionals to track down everyone at risk of contracting HIV as well as those first infected by the virus.
The state has yet to locate 46 people believed to be at risk for HIV. Another 21 have refused testing.
Tracking down those who brought in some of the drug that fueled the outbreak, though, has proven successful. The effort to arrest the four men was a joint effort by the DEA, the Indiana State Police, the Clark County Sheriff's Office and the Scott County Sheriff's Office, according to Fox59.
