4 arrested in connection with southern Indiana HIV outbreak

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) – Authorities say four men have been arrested after allegedly distributing drugs that have fueled the largest HIV outbreak in Indiana history.

The Drug Enforcement Agency says Michael Elkins of Cartersville, Georgia, 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.

The DEA says Elkins and John Morgan were arrested June 16 in Henryville with about four ounces of methamphetamine and 19 Opana pills. They’re charged with dealing in methamphetamine, possession of a narcotic and possession of Opana. They were being held Tuesday in Jeffersonville along with two other men.

Online court records don’t list a hometown for Morgan or attorneys for the four.