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As fentanyl drives overdose deaths, mistaken beliefs persist

Lillianna Alfaro was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in December 2020.

The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times as powerful as the same amount of heroin. It killed them both.

“Two years ago, I knew nothing about this,” said Holly Groelle, the mother of 19-year-old Alfaro, who lived in Appleton, Wisconsin. “I felt bad because it was something I could not have warned her about, because I didn’t know.”

Read the full article on the AP web site.

Do You Know What A Pill Press Is?

Drug counterfeiters can acquire a pill press and a counterfeit pill mold to churn out counterfeit medications for less than $500. Unfortunately, “garage manufacturers” are not careful about manufacturing controls, and their products often contain fatal doses of fentanyl or other drugs. Since 2015, bootleg prescription drugs made with machines like these have killed unsuspecting Americans in 37 states.

The Partnership for Safe Medicines has more information about Pill Presses on their web site.

As fentanyl continues to plague Onslow County, which area has the worst drug problem?

Following the recent seizure of about five pounds of fentanyl and the ongoing problem of local overdoses, drugs in Onslow County continue to be a major concern.

Onslow County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Colonel Chris Thomas said fentanyl results in the overwhelming majority of overdoses in Onslow County, adding the problem is rarely heroin anymore. Last week, Thomas said the county had three overdoses but was able to revive all three of them with Narcan.

One of the biggest current problems, Thomas added, is that fentanyl is now being pressed into pill form as a way of concealment.

He said the local drug enforcement unit even seized a pill press in Jacksonville a few months ago that was being used for that very reason. Thankfully, Thomas said, the county has not yet seen fentanyl in the form of candy, a growing problem throughout the nation.

Read the full article on the JDNews.com web site.

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Drug bust with enough fentanyl to kill millions has NC connection

Enough fentanyl to kill nearly 3 million people was seized in two separate drug busts with connections to North Carolina this past month.

The fentanyl crisis is at an all-time high, with the southern border crisis intensifying since the Biden Administration took office in 2021.

The first and biggest bust occurred on Oct. 12 when Mario Alberto Castro Solache, 29, of Raleigh; Pedro Mondragon, 27, of Lillington; and Ignacio Rodriguez, 28, Bradenton, Florida, were arrested in connection to the largest drug bust in the history of Polk County, Florida.

Florida officials announced the arrests on Oct. 22.

Investigators seized 11 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill 2.7 million people.

Operation Hot Dirt began in September when detectives were tipped off to drug traffickers’ plans to smuggle fentanyl from Mexico to Bradenton, Florida, and then into Polk County. 

Read the full article on the Carolina Journal web site.

Families Sue Snapchat Over Drug Dealing: An Overview

On October 13, 2022 the Social Media Victims Law Center and C.A. Goldberg, PLLC  filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Snap, Inc. on behalf of the families of Alexander Neville, Daniel Puerta, Jeff Johnston, Jr., Dylan Kai Sarantos, Devin Norring, Jack McCarthy, Alexandra Capelouto, and Daniel (Elijah) Figueroa. These teenagers and young adults are eight among hundreds who have died after taking pills purchased from drug dealers operating on Snapchat.

Also included in the suit are the parents of a 16-year-old who survived fentanyl pill poisoning and continues to use the app.

More details can be found on the Parternership for Safe Medicines web site.

Widow and mother of late MLB pitcher Tyler Skaggs speak out against fentanyl

For the first time on camera, the widow of Tyler Skaggs and his mother are sharing their story of loss after the 2019 death of the Los Angeles Angels pitcher. Skaggs was just 27 years old when he was found dead in his hotel room after taking fentanyl-laced oxycodone on the road with his team.

Over three years after Tyler Skaggs’ death, his wife, Carli Skaggs, and mother, Debbie Hetman, spoke to ABC News about what justice looks like to their family.

Read the full article on the Good Morning America web site.

Man charged from Hillsborough woman’s opioid overdose

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — A man was arrested in connection with an opioid overdose in May.

Walter Wrenn of Efland was arrested on a charge of felony death by distribution on Friday.

Wrenn, 36, was already incarcerated in the Orange County Jail for unrelated charges. Wrenn is being held under a $100,000 secured bond.

Read the full story on the WRAL 5 web site.

DEA: 36 million lethal doses of fentanyl removed from U.S. communities from May to September

(The Center Square) – As a result of law enforcement operations from May through September of this year, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and law enforcement partners confiscated 36 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill 36 million Americans.

As part of the DEA’s One Pill Can Kill initiative, DEA agents and law enforcement partners in multiple states seized more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and approximately 980 pounds of fentanyl powder.

Their operations took place between May 23 and Sept. 8, 2022. The operations saved the lives of at least 36 million people who might otherwise have been subjected to the lethal doses, the DEA estimates. Also during the operation, law enforcement officers confiscated 338 weapons, including rifles, shotguns, pistols, and hand grenades.

Of the 390 cases investigated during this period, 51 cases were linked to overdose poisonings; 35 cases directly linked to one or both of the primary Mexican cartels responsible for the majority of fentanyl in the United States: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Read the full article on The Center Square web site.

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