fentanyl

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Welfare Check Leads to Another Arrest for Paul Rodriguez

Comedian, 70, is arrested on charges of narcotics possession, same as he was in March

(Newser) - When Paul Rodriguez was arrested earlier this year in California for narcotics possession, his lawyers insisted that the drugs belonged to the driver of the vehicle he was riding in, not to Rodriguez. Police now say the 70-year-old comedian is once more in legal trouble, after being arrested Monday (again...

Nearly 100 Patients Die After Hospital Fentanyl Treatments

Tests confirm painkiller distributed in Argentina carried drug-resistant bacteria

(Newser) - Argentina is reeling after close to 100 hospital patients died following treatment with contaminated medical-use fentanyl. First reported in May, the deaths—at least 87 but possibly as many as 96, per the Guardian —have been traced to fentanyl batches supplied by HLB Pharma and produced at Laboratorio...

Trump OKs Military Action on Latin American Drug Cartels

Move signals a shift from law enforcement to military involvement

(Newser) - President Trump has quietly authorized the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels, stepping up an already aggressive push to label these organizations as foreign terrorist threats. The directive, confirmed to the New York Times by sources familiar with internal discussions, paves the way for...

You Know Fentanyl. You Should Know Nitazenes

Super-potent opioids quietly contaminate street drugs around the globe

(Newser) - A new class of synthetic opioids, far deadlier than fentanyl, is quietly driving a surge in overdose deaths across Europe and beyond. Originally developed in the 1950s but never approved for medical use due to fatal side effects, nitazenes have quietly infiltrated the drug markets, particularly in the UK...

Man Calls Ex's Alleged Plan to Murder Him 'Pretty Ingenious'

Texas' Pamela Stanley is accused of plot to poison former husband with fentanyl-spiked chocolates

(Newser) - A Texas woman is facing charges after authorities say she tried to mail her ex-husband fentanyl-laced chocolates disguised as a gift. Pamela Jean Stanley, 63, was indicted by a Parker County grand jury last week after being arrested at the end of May, reports NBC Dallas-Fort Worth . Investigators allege...

'Disappointment and Concern' After Autopsy on Sheriff

County sheriff in New Mexico died from effects of fentanyl, alcohol

(Newser) - Medical investigators have determined that a county sheriff in northern New Mexico died from the toxic effects of fentanyl and alcohol, according to autopsy results made public Thursday. Rio Arriba County Sheriff Billy Merrifield, 50, was found dead inside his patrol vehicle outside his Abiquiu home on Easter morning following...

Trump: Mexico's President Won't Let Me Send US Troops In

Sheinbaum stands firm on Mexican sovereignty amid cartel concerns

(Newser) - President Trump confirmed over the weekend that he proposed sending US troops into Mexico to help fight drug cartels—an idea Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected, the AP reports. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, claimed Sheinbaum turned down the suggestion out of fear of the cartels,...

China Looks for Fentanyl Angle to Spark Tariff Negotiations

Security chief asks what the Trump administration wants done to stop chemicals' flow

(Newser) - With its economy already feeling the trade war with the US, China is preparing its people to dig in for a long battle. At the same time, officials are looking into whether fentanyl might serve as a conversation starter for the two countries, the Wall Street Journal reports. Chinese companies...

California Mayor Takes Heat for Homelessness 'Fix'

Rex Parris of Lancaster, California, says 'free fentanyl' will help 'purge' his city

(Newser) - A mayor in Southern California is facing calls for a recall after controversial comments he made more than once about his city's homeless population. KTLA reports that Lancaster's Rex Parris first landed on the radar for his remarks during a Feb. 25 City Council meeting , in which a...

Fentanyl's Hold on Portland Eased. Then Meth Arrived

The New York Times looks at the Maine town's current drug woe

(Newser) - When patients started missing appointments at one Maine addiction clinic, staffers braced themselves for a wave of opioid relapses—only to discover a different drug was taking over the city's streets. As Jan Hoffman reports in a lengthy piece for the New York Times , "cheap and plentiful"...

Trump Says He Told Trudeau: 'That's Not Good Enough'

President claims Canadian leader is using tariff fight to stay in power

(Newser) - President Trump says he had a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday that ended in a "somewhat" friendly manner—but it apparently wasn't enough to change Trump's mind about tariffs. "I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through...

Owner of Daycare Where Toddler Fatally Ingested Fentanyl Sentenced

Grei Mendez gets 45 years behind bars, the same sentence as her husband

(Newser) - A woman who owned a New York City day care center where a toddler died after ingesting fentanyl has been sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal drug charges, the AP reports. Grei Mendez, 37, dropped her head into her crossed arms in anguish as Judge...

Report: US Drones Search for Mexican Drug Labs

Secret program has apparently been expanded—with or without Mexico's cooperation

(Newser) - A secret government program to send US drones to look for fentanyl labs in Mexico has been dialed up under the Trump administration, reports the New York Times . Started under President Biden, the drone flights have increased under President Trump and his CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who've promised more...

She Was 15, He Was 17. Theirs Isn't a Love Story
She Was 15, He Was 17.
Theirs Isn't a Love Story
longform
Dec 15, 2024 6:00 AM CST

She Was 15, He Was 17. Theirs Isn't a Love Story

Maylia Sotelo sold fentanyl pills to Jack McDonough that killed him, and ProPublica digs in

(Newser) - When the fentanyl crisis began, most of its victims were adults. But as ProPublica reports, the rate of overdose deaths among teens has been surging since the pandemic. The outlet's in-depth story by Lizzie Presser brings home that truth by looking at how the lives of two Wisconsin teens...

McKinsey 'Deeply Sorry' for Helping Drugmaker Push Oxy

Consulting firm to pay $650M in settlement after assisting with Purdue Pharma's opioids push

(Newser) - The McKinsey & Company consulting firm has agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal investigation into its work to help opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma boost the sales of the highly addictive drug OxyContin, per court papers filed in Virginia on Friday. The AP reports that, as part of...

New Cartel Strategy in Mexico: Recruit Chemistry Students
Cartel Strategy May Signal
Scary New Phase of Drug War
in case you missed it
Dec 7, 2024 4:10 PM CST

Cartel Strategy May Signal Scary New Phase of Drug War

Chemistry students being recruited to ramp up fentanyl production, reports New York Times

(Newser) - It's like a work-study program, cartel-style. The New York Times reports that drug cartels in Mexico have been aggressively recruiting chemistry students from college campuses to ramp up their fentanyl game. The overriding goal is to figure out how to produce their own synthetic opioids from scratch and avoid...

After Trump Tariffs Threat, Mexico Makes Huge Drug Bust

Mexico makes what officials say is biggest fentanyl seizure ever there

(Newser) - Mexican soldiers and marines seized over a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north, with officials calling it the biggest catch of the synthetic opioid in the country's history. The raids came after a sharp drop in fentanyl seizures in Mexico earlier this year, and days...

Man Who Stashed Fentanyl in Daycare Gets 45 Years

Felix Herrera-Garcia went on the run after toddler died from overdose

(Newser) - A man who hid a stash of fentanyl beneath the floorboards of a Bronx daycare center was sentenced to 45 years in prison Wednesday in connection with a toddler's fatal opioid overdose. Felix Herrera-Garcia previously pleaded guilty to drug charges and causing bodily harm after the death of Nicholas...

Big Drop in OD Deaths: 'This Has Not Happened by Accident'

Preliminary data from CDC shows 10% decrease in overdose deaths in 12-month span ending in April

(Newser) - Partly due to fentanyl rampaging through the narcotics pipeline, the United States has seen a depressingly high death count from drug overdoses in recent years. Now, however, signs of improvement: According to preliminary data from the states released in August by the CDC , there was a 10% drop in that...

DEA to Close 2 of Its 'Hard-Won' Offices in China

Move comes even as agency struggles to stem flow of fentanyl chemicals

(Newser) - The US Drug Enforcement Administration is shutting down two of its hard-won offices in China, the AP has learned—a move that comes even as the agency struggles to disrupt the flow of precursor chemicals from the country that have fueled a fentanyl epidemic in the US. "These closings...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser