Officials stock up on overdose antidote naloxone after fentanyl-laced letters disrupt vote counting
Election officials around the country are stocking up on the overdose reversal medication naloxone after a series of suspicious mailings โ some containing traces of fentanyl โ were sent to vote centers or government buildings in six states.
US announces sweeping action against Chinese fentanyl supply chain producers
The Biden administration is taking aim at the fentanyl trafficking threat, announcing a series of indictments and sanctions against Chinese companies and executives blamed for importing the chemicals used to make the deadly drug.
Mexico shutters 23 pharmacies at Caribbean coast resorts after US warned of dangerous pill sales
Mexico has closed 23 pharmacies at Caribbean coast resorts, six months after a research report warned that drug stores in Mexico were offering foreigners pills they passed off as Oxycodone, Percocet, and Adderall.
'Keep them alive': More states legalize fentanyl test strips to combat surging opioid deaths
A growing number of states are decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips, seeking to protect people who use drugs from unwitting exposure to the highly potent synthetic opioid ravaging the U.S. with overdose deaths.
El Chapo's son, Sinaloa members face sanctions over fentanyl
The United States has sanctioned a son of Mexican drug lord Joaquin โEl Chapoโ Guzman, three members of the Sinaloa cartel and two Mexican-based firms, alleging they trafficked fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S. Tuesday's sanctions came the day Mexican President Andrรฉs Manuel Lรณpez Obrador was talking with President Joe Biden about immigration and the fentanyl crisis.
More sanctions for deadly fentanyl if bill becomes law
Over the course of a year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used the hammer of its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial restrictions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world.
China sentences fentanyl drug ring in rare public trial
Wikimedia Commons(CNN) - Nine members of a cross-border fentanyl smuggling ring were sentenced at a public hearing in a Chinese courtroom Thursday, a rare display by Beijing of its efforts to crack down on the highly-addictive drug. After three months of investigation, Chinese narcotics authorities busted the drug ring in a series of raids across the country, including in Hebei and Jiangsu provinces. Yu said that after the fentanyl was manufactured in China, it was sent overseas in postal packages. In a statement released in August, the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy claimed that China "continues to pour poison into our communities." He added that since 2012 the US had only shared six leads with Chinese authorities, three of which Yu claimed had led to joint investigations.
Virginia's attorney general sues fentanyl manufacturer for 'deceiving the public'
ROANOKE, Va. - A top state official is targeting a major fentanyl manufacturer for "deceiving the public" about the risks of its products. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring filed a lawsuit Thursday in Richmond City Circuit Court against opioid manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals and its predecessor, Cephalon, for engaging in what he calls an "unlawful, complex, decades-long campaign to boost sales of fentanyl." Fentanyl is the most potent narcotic currently approved for human use, officials say. Herring alleges that the manufacturers coordinated a decadeslong campaign to turn fentanyl into a routine part of pain management in America. Actiq is described as a "raspberry-flavored fentanyl lollipop," and Fentora is a rapid release tablet.
Fentanyl deadliest drug in US, but meth kills more in some places
Hannelore Foerster/Getty Images(CNN) - Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug in the United States, but in some areas of the country, methamphetamine kills more people. In 2017, fentanyl was associated with 38.9% of all drug overdose deaths, an increase from 2016, when it was associated with 29% of all fatal overdoses. This is the second year that CDC analyzed fatal overdoses in this way. While fentanyl was the most common drug involved in fatal overdoses nationally, there was a geographic divide, the report said. In 2017, the latest year for which complete data is available, more than 70,000 people died from drug overdoses.
'Potentially deadly batch of heroin' has killed one person in Virginia
DANVILLE, Va. - One person has died due to a heroin overdose connected with a batch of the drug police issued a warning about on Wednesday. The Danville Police Department issued a warning about heroin that has caused a series of overdoses that was laced with illegally sourced fentanyl or a similar substance. The person overdosed on Thursday morning and later died. Danville Police Department Damion Reed, 28, was arrested by Danville police for allegedly trafficking a potentially deadly batch of heroin. Police have arrested 28-year-old Damion Reed, who they suspect of trafficking the batch of drugs contributing to the overdoses.
Police warn of potentially deadly batch of heroin in Virginia
LEFT: Damion Reed, 28, was arrested by Danville police for allegedly trafficking a potentially deadly batch of heroin. RIGHT: A bag of heroin part of the batch in question. DANVILLE, Va. - Police are warning people about what they're calling a potentially deadly batch of heroin laced with illegally sourced fentanyl or a similar substance. So far, police have arrested one man suspected of trafficking the batch of drugs contributing to the overdoses. Police say the investigation is ongoing and the risk for anyone coming into contact with this batch of illegal drugs still exists.
San Francisco inmates, deputies hospitalized after narcotic exposure
Copyright 2019 CNNSAN FRANCISCO - Five inmates and eight deputies from a San Francisco County jail were taken to the hospital after exposure to a narcotic -- possibly fentanyl, authorities said. The San Francisco Fire Department responded Tuesday evening to a call from sheriff's deputies who found an unresponsive inmate at County Jail #4 at the Hall of Justice. The inmate, along with four others who showed symptoms, were given Narcan and transported to a local hospital, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department said in a statement. Eight deputies who administered CPR on scene were also exposed to the narcotic and taken to local hospitals. The fire department has cleared the affected area but it still needs to be decontaminated, authorities said.
6 prison staffers hospitalized for possible fentanyl exposure
Wikimedia Commons(CNN) - Six staff members at a prison in Connecticut were taken to local hospitals for possible exposure to fentanyl, the potent synthetic opioid, the Connecticut Department of Correction said. An ambulance was called to the Cheshire Correctional Institute, a state prison, at 9 a.m. on Tuesday to take a correctional officer in medical distress to the hospital, the department said in a statement. The Department of Correction and Connecticut State Police are investigating. The correctional institution has 428 current staffers and emphasizes rewards for deserving inmates, including in educational programming, its website states. That potency means that police, first responders and prison staffers can overdose or suffer health effects after even a minor encounter with the drug.