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JEFFERSON CITY -- Update: Friday, Jan. 6 at 4:55 p.m.:

Prosecutors have charged a Jefferson City man suspected of being a heroin dealer.

Late Friday afternoon Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson charged Douglas A. Smith, 24, with a felony for arranging the sale and use of the drug.

Jefferson City police arrested Smith Thursday afternoon after being identified by a man found unconscious in a yard on Anderson Street. Emergency crews rushed the man to the hospital with a heroin overdose.

"That's why our community action team is involved... to try and figure out not only what's taking place with the overdoses, but to try and track those back to the source, “ Captain Doug Shoemaker with JCPD explained.

Shoemaker would not describe Smith as a major heroin supplier.

According to court documents, Smith functioned only as a go-between to acquire $150 worth of heroin. The drug came from his source and was for the overdose victim.

Shoemaker said any bust in the growing Jefferson City heroin trade is important.

Original Story:

A Jefferson City man was arrested Thursday for distributing heroin after a man he supplied to suffered an overdosed.

At about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jefferson City Police Officers went to the 2100 block of Anderson Drive for a possible overdose.

When they got to the home they found a 31-year-old man unresponsive in the backyard.

Cole County EMS took the man to a local hospital for treatment.

After physicians were able to stabilize him, he was interviewed by members of the Jefferson City Police Department Community Action Team. 

The man told officials he had bought the heroin from someone in Jefferson City and he lost consciousness after injecting that heroin intravenously. 

Through the man’s statements officials were able to identify who the supplier was and locate him.

Jefferson City Police searched the 24-year-old suspect’s home and found a large amount of drug paraphernalia which is typically associated with heroin.

The suspect was interviewed and arrested for Felony Distribution of Heroin and Misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.