Oregon Public Broadcasting

A surge in deaths by prescription drug overdose has spurred a major investigation and bust in Southwest Washington. Wednesday, state and federal agents raided houses across Cowlitz County and arrested 19 people. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on the new face of drug prosecution.

The county coroner in Kelso, Washington counts 40 dead over the past two and a half years from prescription drug overdoses. That's a lot for a medium-sized county. And it's why the feds came in.

The U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, Jeff Sullivan, says agents broke a network that was pushing drugs such as Oxycontin, methadone, and morphine.

Jeff Sullivan: "We are doing this case, and doing federal cases, even though these aren't the biggest dealers in the world. In fact, they probably could be called street dealers. But we're doing it because of the community impact."

Sullivan says the source of the dealers' narcotics remains under investigation. Some of the accused allegedly forged and sold their own prescriptions.

Sullivan calls prescription drug abuse "the fastest growing drug problem in America right now" and says it's being given higher priority.