Police Avert ‘250,000 Potential Death Sentences’ With Massive Fentanyl Bust

Police Avert ‘250,000 Potential Death Sentences’ With Massive Fentanyl Bust

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4:58 PM 02/14/2018

Authorities in Pennsylvania seized enough heroin and fentanyl to cause a quarter million people to fatally overdose during a raid Sunday evening.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the drug seizure Tuesday along with the arrests of 24-year-old Cesar Guzman and 30-year-old Duagermy Sanchez-Rosario. The arrests came in the wake of a month-long investigation into drug distribution operations in Philadelphia, which lost an estimated 1,200 residents to opioid-related overdoses last year, reports WPVI.

The total haul of heroin and fentanyl seized in the bust carries an estimated street value of roughly $2.6 million. Guzman and Sanchez-Rosario face a number of charges including drug possession and conspiracy.

“Putting the dollar value of these narcotics aside, the amount of drugs we seized would have created 250,000 doses of heroin and fentanyl,” Shapiro said Tuesday, according to WPVI. “That’s 250,000 potential death sentences averted.”

Narcotics continue to pour into due to the relentless efforts of drug cartels trying to take advantage of America’s debilitating opioid epidemic. Authorities in Boston recently scored one of the largest drug busts in Massachusetts’ history, seizing enough fentanyl to cause seven million fatal overdoses.

The massive grab was the result of a six month wiretap investigation dubbed “Operation High Hopes,” that monitored a gang in the Boston area with links to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. Boston police and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested 38 suspected narcotics traffickers in the bust that yielded more than 33 pounds of fentanyl, as well as cocaine, heroin, $300,000 in cash and two firearms.

Authorities in Pennsylvania seized enough heroin and fentanyl to cause a quarter million people to fatally overdose during a raid Sunday evening.

Fentanyl overtook heroin as the deadliest substance in the U.S. in 2016, claiming 19,413 lives in 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The substance is fueling more overdose deaths as drug dealers increasingly cut the substance into heroin and cocaine supplies to maximize profits.

Nationally, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death for Americans under age 50, killing more than 64,000 people in 2016.

http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/14/pe...fentanyl-bust/

Great job!!! Way to go STATES and DEA.

Shapiro announces drug bust, bashes Philly safe injection sites again


Updated: FEBRUARY 13, 2018 — 11:09 AM EST
by Dan Spinelli, STAFF WRITER

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office announced Tuesday the seizure of 250,000 bags of fentanyl-laced heroin worth $2.6 million and again criticized Philadelphia’s approval of so-called safe injection sites.

“I want people to understand what it’s like to use heroin and fentanyl: It’s like playing Russian roulette,” Shapiro said at a news conference at his regional office in Tinicum Township, Delaware County. “You shoot this poison in your veins and you have no idea whether you’re going to live or whether you’re going to die.”

Shapiro, a Democrat, has made fighting the heroin and opioid epidemic a major tenet of the first year of his term as Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement officer.

Charged were Cesar Guzman, 24, and Duagermy Sanchez-Rosario, 30. Both are from the Dominican Republic, and Guzman had entered the country illegally, a spokesman for Shapiro said.They are being held in lieu of $1.5 million bail each.

During a monthlong investigation, agents from the state Attorney General’s Office were able to make “controlled buys” of heroin from Guzman and eventually set up surveillance on both men and their house on the 4300 block of North Fourth Street in the city’s Feltonville section.

In addition to the drugs, investigators seized over $6,500 in cash from the two men along with a loaded handgun and other items.

After announcing the drug seizure, Shapiro reiterated his criticism of Philadelphia’s decision to approve so-called safe injection sites.

“I think they’re illegal,” he said. “There’s no safe way to inject yourself with this type of poison.”

Last month city officials approved the use of the heroin-injection sites. “We are facing an epidemic of historic proportions,” Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said in making the announcement. Philadelphia isn’t operating the sites but is encouraging private organizations to do so.

The decision was criticized by Shapiro, who said at the time that sanctioning a safe injection site “presents significant public safety concerns, and changes in state and federal law would need to occur for these sites to operate legally.”

“We’ve had conversations with Attorney General Shapiro, and we respect the A.G.’s opinion on this,” said Kenney administration spokesman Mike Dunn. “We’re fully aware — and have made clear — that there are many discussions to be had with various partners and stakeholders before a site is up and running.”

Guzman and Sanchez-Rosario have already been arraigned and will be in court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 27.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/sh...-20180213.html