Tag: overdoses

Arizonan Sentenced After Being Caught Attempting to Deal Fentanyl

Neil Jones

Steve Lugo Leon, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison after pleading guilty to intending to distribute an illicit substance containing fentanyl, according to a Thursday release from the Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (District).

The incident occurred back in 2021 at the Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe. Leon had arranged to sell fentanyl pills and methamphetamine with a client, but when police showed up, the dealer attempted to flee in his vehicle. He also had an accomplice in the car, Rafael Ivan Valenzuela Chairez, 20, of Phoenix; however, in the ensuing chase, Leon hit another vehicle, causing his truck to flip on its side. Chairez attempted to flee on foot, but both dealers were apprehended by police. Officers then found 946 grams of fentanyl, around 9,000 pills, and 12.83 kilograms of methamphetamine.

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Arizona Border Drug Operations Seize over a Ton of Fentanyl in Two Months

Neil Jones

The Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (District) announced Wednesday the results of a multi-agency collaboration under Operations Blue Lotus and Four Horsemen that has resulted in “more than a ton of fentanyl” being confiscated along Arizona’s border between March 6th and May 8th.

“Thanks to the efforts of our partners at the Department of Homeland Security, we prevented substantial amounts of fentanyl and other drugs from reaching Arizona neighborhoods,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino.

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Nogales Port Director Michael Humphries: More Fentanyl Seized in Three Months than 2022 Fiscal Year

Neil Jones

Nogales Port of Entry Director Michael Humphries stated Monday that more fentanyl had been seized at his port in three months than in the entirety of the 2022 fiscal year (FY).

“In the first 3 months of FY23, the Nogales POE has already surpassed the total amount of fentanyl seized throughout all of FY22, which was already a record year,” tweeted Humphries.

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Phoenix Police Make Largest Single Seizure of Fentanyl Pills in Department History

Neil Jones

The Phoenix Police Department (PHXPD) shared Friday that officials made the largest single seizure of fentanyl pills in the department’s history this week.

“Phoenix police detectives with the Drug Enforcement Bureau have made the single largest fentanyl bust in Phoenix police history. Two men have been arrested in connection to the seizure which netted more than one million fentanyl pills,” according to a media advisory shared with the Arizona Sun Times.

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Maricopa County Indicts Two Women Transporting over 850,000 Fentanyl Pills

Neil Jones

The Maricopa County Grand Jury indicted two women Monday for possessing over 850,000 counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, enough to cause potentially millions of overdoses.

“Two out of five counterfeit pills that come across our border are laced with lethal doses of fentanyl. These drugs are being marketed to our youth in the most proliferous ways and are being produced in candy-like colors. We must hold those who bring these lethal pills into our community accountable,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.

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Mark Brnovich Announces Two Multistate Settlements with Four Pharmaceutical Companies for Their Roles in the Opioid Crisis

Neil Jones

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) recently announced two historic multistate settlements, totaling $26 billion, with four pharmaceutical companies over their roles in the opioid crisis.

“We are working to get these opioid abatement funds to local communities as quickly as possible,” Brnovich said in a press release. “They will help facilitate more effective treatment, education, and prevention as our state continues to tackle this heartbreaking crisis.”

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Mastriano Announces Measure Toughening Penalties for Fentanyl Pushers in Pennsylvania

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) on Thursday announced he will soon introduce legislation to strengthen penalties for fentanyl pushers whose sales result in deadly overdoses. 

The senator is naming his measure “Tyler’s Law” after Tyler Shanafelter, an 18-year-old constituent who bought what he believed was Percocet but turned out to have acquired a fentanyl-laced product. The young man fatally overdosed. 

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Ohio Attorney General’s Office Warns of New Deadly Synthetic Drug

Peter D'Abrosca

Ohio’s top attorney this week is warning residents of a new class of designer drugs that are more deadly than fentanyl. 

“Frankenstein opioids are even more lethal than the drugs already responsible for so many overdose deaths,” Attorney General Dave Yost said in a press release. “Law enforcement and the public need to pay attention to these emerging hazards.” 

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Arizona Man Arrested for Attempting to Smuggle a Half Ton of Meth, Fentanyl into U.S.

Cooper Moran

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Port of Lukeville arrested an Arizona man for attempting to smuggle approximately 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl across the Arizona-Mexico border.

According to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Phoenix man loaded 880 pounds of meth and 110 pounds of fentanyl in his Roadmaster RV; however, the drugs were detected by a narcotics canine.

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Congressman Tim Burchett Urges Action from Biden, Pelosi on Fentanyl Crisis

Cooper Moran

Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden, urging the Democratic leaders to take action to curb the ongoing fentanyl crisis.

“From 2019 to 2020, drug overdose deaths jumped from 70,630 to 91,794, driven by 20,000 more deaths attributed to synthetic opioid fentanyl and its deadlier analogs. In fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents seized over 11,000 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border, a 42 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. Our country cannot tolerate another year of surging overdose deaths. It is past time to fight back,” he wrote in the letter to Pelosi.

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Akron Man Wants Fentanyl Declared a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Peter D'Abrosca

An Akron man whose son died of an overdose in 2015 is on a crusade to take fentanyl, a ultra-lethal drug manufactured mostly in China and by Mexican cartels, off the streets for good.

Motivated by his son’s tragic death, James Rauh founded an organization called Families Against Fentanyl, which is taking a unique approach to fighting the manufacture and import of that drug. 

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Experts: Revamped OxyContin Hasn’t Curbed Abuse, Overdoses

The Associated Press

A panel of government health advisers said Friday there’s no clear evidence that a harder-to-crush version of the painkiller OxyContin designed to discourage abuse actually resulted in fewer overdoses or deaths.

The conclusion from the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel comes more than a decade after Purdue Pharma revamped its blockbuster opioid, which has long been blamed for sparking a surge in painkiller abuse beginning in the 1990s.

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Opioid Overdoses Rise in State During Coronavirus Pandemic

Admin

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is reporting significant increases in opioid overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

MDHHS reported emergency medical services (EMS) in the state responded to a 33 percent increase in opioid overdoses from April to May of this year. The department adds that opioid overdoses increased by 26 percent from the prior year during the period between April and June. 

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Ohio’s Franklin County Experiences 11 Overdose Deaths This Past Weekend

Zachery Schmidt

Franklin County in Ohio saw another surge in drug-related overdoses last weekend, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Dr. Anahi Ortiz, the Franklin County coroner, told The Dispatch that 11 people had died.

Since the Wuhan virus came to Ohio, Franklin County has been one of state’s hardest-hit areas in terms of overdoses.

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