Arrest made in heroin investigation

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A Paris Crossing woman has been arrested in connection with heroin sales in Seymour.

Laikyn Rochelle Castetter, 26, faces three Level 4 felony charges of dealing in a controlled substance/heroin. Her arrest Wednesday stems from a months-long investigation, police said.

Police didn’t have to go too far when they were ready to arrest her, Seymour Detective Brian Moore said.

Castetter was arrested after officers received information she was at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown picking up her mother, who had been in jail on an unrelated charge.

Moore said the charges against Castetter stem from numerous undercover drug buys that occurred over about four months.

“We believe that she was the main source for a group here in town, and she was the one traveling to Indy to pick up the heroin, almost on a daily basis,” Moore said.

Castetter did not have drugs on her at the time of her arrest at the jail, Moore said, but police later found an estimated $400 to $500 worth of heroin in her hotel room on the east side of Seymour.

Moore said heroin, an opiate drug, is becoming more of a problem locally because it’s less expensive than prescription pills, and drug abusers will turn to it for a less-expensive fix. A pill can cost $40 to $80, while a dose of heroin can cost $20, he said.

Moore also said some people turn to heroin as the federal government tightens regulations on pain clinics and how many prescription pills can be prescribed by a doctor.

Ultimately, he said, the two drugs go hand-in-hand because if police bust or arrest a group of pill dealers, then drug users will turn to using heroin for a while, and it works the same way if there are a lot of heroin arrests.

Castetter was booked into the jail at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday and was being held without bond Thursday pending her initial hearing.

In November, Castetter was arrested on a charge of possession of paraphernalia and pleaded guilty in Jackson Superior Court I. Judge Bruce Markel III sentenced her to a year in jail but suspended 359 days and placed her on probation.

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