(Cincinnati, OH) -- The federal government is ramping up the fight against heroin and fentanyl in southwest Ohio.
The U.S. Justice Department announced yesterday the addition of new DEA enforcement teams in Cincinnati and five other cities hit hard by the opioid crisis.
The DEA chose the six locations by studying data related to opioid overdose deaths and heroin and fentanyl seizures.
Officials say the teams will target high-level drug traffickers who import heroin from Mexico.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says statistics show nearly 54 percent of the country's 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016 were caused by opioids.