PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Law enforcement authorities say a massive drug roundup in eastern Kentucky earlier this year has done little to curb the illegal use and sale of the prescription drug OxyContin.

        Detective Keith Justice said the potential for making money is luring new participants into the drug trade, including a septuagenarian who lives in an apartment complex for the elderly in Pikeville.

        Ben Rowe, 73, was arrested Tuesday after police allegedly paid him $100 for six OxyContin pills.

        “Elderly people see that there's quite a bit of money to be made by selling their medications,” Det. Justice said. “There's also quite a bit of penalty if they get caught.”

        The number of OxyContin arrests continues to climb in the wake of “Oxyfest,” the largest drug roundup in Kentucky history. Authorities arrested 200 people in a one-day sweep for dealing in OxyContin or acquiring the drug through deception.

        Each week, police add to the list of people charged with illegal possession or trafficking in the prescription opioid that's intended for use by cancer patients or others suffering from severe pain.

        Addicts have been crushing the pills into powder and snorting it, or diluting it for injection to get a euphoric high.

        “Oxyfest brought the problem to light,” said Lt. Kevin Payne, spokesman for the Kentucky State Police headquarters in Frankfort. “The problem hasn't gone away.”

        Offenders have found the penalties stiff.

        Last month in Harlan County, Circuit Judge Ron Johnson, calling abuse of the drug a scourge, sentenced a woman to 10 years in prison for selling four of the pills. Nellie Holbrook, 33, of Closplint, had pleaded guilty to trafficking in OxyContin.

        Undercover investigations are continuing, said Trooper Craig Sutton of the Kentucky State Police post in London.

        “We're continuously trying to crack down on this drug,” he said. “When taken correctly, it's a great medication.”

        Before the Oxyfest raids, Lt. Payne said, many people had never heard of OxyContin.

        “We've continued to make arrests since Oxyfest,” he said. “The biggest problem that we're still seeing is people who are doctor shopping — people who go see two or three doctors a day complaining of an ailment to get a prescription.

        “We're not at all opposed to the drug,” Lt. Payne continued. “The drug is good if used for what it's intended. If I were seriously injured or ill and I needed OxyContin, I would certainly want my doctor to be able to prescribe it for me. The problem is with the people who are abusing it.”

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