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Greater Cincinnati May See A Resurgence In Meth

Mexican drug dealers, looking to gain market share, are offering free meth to their heroin customers.

The Tri-State region, already dealing with a heroin epidemic, may see an uptick in methamphetamine use because drug dealers are diversifying and giving out free meth samples to their customers.

FBI Director James Comey, in Cincinnati Wednesday to meet with law enforcement officials and talk about violence and drugs among other things, said "Mexican drug traffickers are manufacturing in Mexico huge amounts of highly pure meth and they are looking to gain market share as well and have that sweep (from the western U.S. to the east)."

FBI Director James Comey visits the Cincinnati FBI field office.

Comey says since Ohio sits in the Midwest it's inevitable that the meth is coming.

"It's an evil business, but it's a business. You gain market share by giving people freebies," according to the FBI Director.

During a media availability Comey was asked what he thought the reasons were for a continued increase in violence here and across the country over the last nine or ten months. He gave four possible reasons:

  • Heroin is cheap.
  • Police departments are shorthanded.
  • A wave of people, serving a decade or more, are being released from jail after serving their sentences.
  • YouTube videos  could be changing the behavior of people, encouraging them to be more violent.

While in Cincinnati, Comey met with the FBI staff, theFBI Citizens Academy Board, retired special agents, and law enforcement leaders. He is on his second round of visiting all 56 field offices in the U.S.

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.