By Fox 40 Staff.

Heroin has become cheap and easy to buy. It's a large factor as to why its use has risen to crisis levels in communities across the country, including the Southern Tier.


Alexis Pleus of TruthPharm, a group that works to raise awareness on heroin,

Pleus said heroin gets into the country from numerous countries:


"Heroin supply coming to the U.S from several locations. Turkey, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and South America. I spoke to New York State Police Narcotics Division and they said that the majority of what we get in our area is coming from South America. Mexico has increased their supply and growth of heroin by four times in the past few years," said Pleus.


According to Pleus, crossing the border isn't difficult.


"The officer that I spoke to said that with heroin there's several different ways they're getting into the country. They're bringing it across the border, through tunnels, he said through submarines even. Flights are actually a common way for heroin to be brought in to our country, as well as ships at our ports."


Once this dangerous drug is inside of the US, in places like Arizona, local law enforcement say the route to Binghamton is fairly direct.


Matt Cower of the Broome County Sheriff's Department said it spreads all over the county into places such as New York City, where much of Binghamton's heroin supply comes from.


The rule of supply and demand is in effect here. With heroin readily available in New York City, it costs less on the streets. Therefore, a dealer can purchase heroin in the city and bring it to places like Binghamton to sell for a higher profit, according to Cower.


Heroin small packaging makes it easy for dealers to transport and nearly just as easy to hide in places like car vents, shirt sleeves, the back of a cellphone.


Cower also tells us that the drug has often been sold on the streets, but more recently it has been sold within a local network of users.