Experts from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) examine pills containing fentanyl at the DEA Northeast Regional Laboratory in New York on Oct. 8, 2019.
For the past several years, police departments in the S.C. region have warned the public about the dangers of fentanyl. Law enforcement officials say there are increasing instances of victims, especially young people, being duped by drug traffickers into buying fake oxycodone (a powerful opioid analgesic) pills that are taken and lead to death. And the Parents of these victims say: our children did not die of overdose, but were poisoned. They hope a state bill known as Alexandra’s Law will be passed to bring murder charges against drug dealers who manufacture and distribute these fake drugs.
Fentanyl accounts for 49 percent of drug deaths in L.A. County
Patch reports that statistics show that in 2017, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Los Angeles Operations Division seized nearly 120,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills, all of which were actually fentanyl pills. But by 2020, in just three years, that number had increased tenfold, to 1.2 million pills. Many of the pills or pills were produced with the appearance of counterfeit 30 mg oxycodone, all embossed with “M-30”.
Law enforcement officials said that the processing cost of making these fake tablets is very low, and does not require any advanced technology. They are usually not made under sterile conditions, but with the simplest ingredients and tools (such as powdered formula and a blender), and are made by adding some coloring agents and fentanyl ingredients; they are then pressed into tablets using a pill press, or the powder is filled into capsules. The whole process can be done at Home, or in more complex batches. Common distribution channels for these counterfeit drugs include underground networks and social media platforms such as Snapchat.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is used to make fake pills, but traffickers also mix it into methamphetamine (meth) and cocaine. According to DEA Los Angeles, fentanyl currently accounts for nearly half of drug deaths in L.A. County – 49 percent – and about 42 percent of drug deaths in Riverside County. to more than 400.
Drug dealers in Epidemic rely on fentanyl to solve supply problems
We need the community’s help to raise awareness about the dangers and consequences of fentanyl and other opioid use, and we must make sure young people are widely aware of the dangers and make more informed decisions about drug use, said Bill Bodner, head of the DEA’s Los Angeles Operations Division, at a news conference last week. Bodnar also announced the DEA’s operational action plan that day, with the primary goal of reducing fentanyl-related deaths.
Crowley said they have more than doubled the amount of fentanyl seized from 2019 to 2020, especially in the summer of 2020. They believe this shows drug gangs have overcome border restrictions due to the epidemic, but details are still under investigation.
DEA San Diego Division Special Agent John W. Callery said the supply chain for drug dealers was once disrupted by border restrictions after the outbreak, but drug trafficking organizations have solved the supply problem by sending more fentanyl and methamphetamine. And because fentanyl is an extremely potent and dangerous drug, along with its low price, drug traffickers began mixing it with other drugs, such as methamphetamine.
2 mg of fentanyl can kill, Riverside prosecutors charge with murder for the first Time
Drug gangs have been buying fentanyl from China on an ongoing basis. Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy Wilkison said fentanyl is cheap, potent and so deadly that it only takes about 2 milligrams to kill a person.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said the hunt for fentanyl distributors is like a game of whack-a-mole, where you hit this and that pops up again. In an effort to save lives and stop traffickers from peddling fake drugs containing fentanyl, Bianco recently announced that they are developing a plan and intend to investigate every fentanyl death case.
For the first time ever, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office last week launched murder charges against a drug dealer accused of selling fake pills containing lethal doses of fentanyl that resulted in death. On Friday, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of another 18-year-old man in connection with the fentanyl death of a 16-year-old girl.
SB350 Alexandra Bill
A bill that may be used to convict drug dealers was introduced earlier this month by state Sen. Melissa Melendez, D-Riverside, SB350, also known as Alexandra’s Law, was named in honor of 20-year-old Temecula resident Alexandra Capelouto. Her parents said Alexandra died of fentanyl poisoning on Dec. 23, 2019, after taking “oxycodone” pills sold to her by a drug dealer.
Alexandra was not a drug addict, she was a college student and was on vacation when she died. She died after taking a pill she thought was oxycodone. Many parents of people who have died after taking fake pills containing fentanyl want SB 350 to pass. They also want law enforcement to investigate fentanyl deaths as “homicides” rather than “overdose deaths.
SB350 requires that people convicted of buying, selling, manufacturing, producing, processing, transporting, supplying, or giving away dangerous narcotics receive a written warning about the dangers of manufacturing and distributing various controlled substances, and that manufacturers and distributors can be charged with murder if someone dies as a result. The warning says: The illegal manufacture and distribution of controlled substances, whether real or counterfeit, can pose a serious health risk to those who ingest them. The manufacture or distribution of these controlled substances, whether real or counterfeit, poses a serious threat to Life. If this is done and someone dies as a result, the operator can be charged with murder.
SB 350 requires that the plea (or in other written form) contain the advice the defendant has received, and that it be recorded as well as in a summary of the conviction. The written record allows justice to initiate murder charges against repeat drug offenders. This falls under the “Watson murder rule,” which is similar to second-degree murder charges against a driver killed by a DUI. The Watson Rule holds that an intoxicated driver knows that his or her actions will have fatal consequences and therefore acts with malice.
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