Austin police arrest 6 people after 'unusually deadly' surge of opioid overdoses
Police in Texas have arrested six individuals after an unusually deadly string of nearly 80 drug overdoses, resulting in nine fatalities last week.
The Austin Police Department arrested 45-year-old Ronnie Lamar Mims, 30-year-old Marcellus Dion Barron, 32-year-old Kanady Arkangelo Rimijo, 50-year-old Gary Joseph Lewis, 47-year-old Denise Horton, and 27-year-old Guy Len Allen.
FOX 7 Austin reported that according to court documents, the six individuals were charged with felony possession or delivery of a controlled substance.
But during a press conference Tuesday, Austin Police Department Lt. Patrick Eastlick told reporters none of the suspects in custody were directly linked to the victims of the overdoses last week.
At about 9 a.m. on April 29, Austin-Travis County EMS personnel began responding to a sudden surge of opioid-related calls.
The calls came from the downtown portion of Austin, then began spreading to all areas of the city.
Austin Chief Deputy Medical Director Dr. Heidi Abraham said at the time that on a typical day, emergency personnel could respond to between two and three overdose calls. On April 29, crews had responded to at least 30 calls, but by the end of the week, they had responded to 80 overdose calls, which resulted in at least nine deaths.
"We haven't seen a spike in overdoses of any kind like this since we dealt with K2 in 2015," Austin-Travis County EMS Capt. Christa Stedman told FOX 7.
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In response to the surge, Eastlick said members of the Organized Crime Division, Narcotics Support Unit, and other divisions of the Austin Police Department began conducting targeted undercover investigations in areas where there was an increase in overdoses.
In particular, the investigations homed in on the downtown section, North Austin and South Austin.
The undercover operations resulted in numerous arrests related to narcotics, but Eastlick wanted to be clear that none of the individuals arrested during the investigations were linked to the overdoses.
"The purpose of these operations was to try to identify dealers responsible and the sources of the narcotics which caused the overdoses," he said.
Eastlick also said during the operations, they seized various narcotics such as crack cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, which contained fentanyl.
The department said it does not come across marijuana laced with fentanyl often, but has seen it in the past.
"It is concerning to us, not only with marijuana, but with all the substances that are being mixed with fentanyl. And it’s a concern that all people should have when consuming illicit narcotics," Eastlick said. "And that’s one of the risks…is you really don’t know what’s in it."
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Investigators theorize that when crack cocaine is purchased, the dealers end up mixing it with other substances like fentanyl to create more volume and make more money, Eastlick explained.
So, what potentially happened is between people selling crack cocaine to other dealers and then to buyers, fentanyl was mixed into the batch.
"These mixtures aren’t done in labs, and so there’s no scientific approach to it," Eastlick said. "So, potentially too much fentanyl…got mixed in with the substances and caused the overdoses that we saw."
Historically, he said, many of the narcotics dealers in Austin are considered street level, or they are out to make a profit for themselves, as opposed to being part of major organized crime.
Court documents obtained by FOX 7 show that when APD arrested Mims, he was allegedly in possession of fentanyl-laced cocaine in his pants, which was discovered after Narcan was administered to a man he was with. Mims has been charged with third-degree felony possession of a controlled substance.
Lewis and Horton were allegedly inside a car with baggies of drugs, which they are accused of distributing and taking money from a dealer. The two were arrested and charged with second-degree felony fentanyl possession after the marijuana inside the vehicle tested positive for fentanyl.
The station also reported that Rimijo and Barron were arrested for selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer. Rimijo reportedly had marijuana in his jacket pocket, and all the drugs in their possession tested positive for fentanyl.
Rimijo faces first-degree felony delivery of a controlled substance and Barron faces second-degree felony delivery of a controlled substance.
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The sixth suspect arrested was Allen, who police claim was with another man when the two of them were involved in a drug deal with a homeless person. Officers allegedly found meth-laced marijuana inside Allen’s car inside a drug-free zone near a day school, and he was charged with first-degree felony possession with intent to distribute.
Eastlick advised the public to be mindful of suspicious activity in their communities and reach out to police if they see something of concern.
He also had a message for those selling drugs in Austin.
"Stop. Stop spreading the poison that’s affecting our community," Eastlick said, adding that police do not know what they are selling or how.
According to the Austin-Travis County EMS, opioid overdoses returned to their typical levels on Monday, though police could not say whether the bad batch of drugs had left the city.
Austin police and Travis County EMS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.