Minnesota drug use on the rise
Drug enforcement authorities say fentanyl mixed with heroin has killed hundreds of people in Chicago and Detroit and now the drug combination has made its way to Minnesota.
Three men have been arrested in connection to the drug's appearance on Minnesota streets.
Kevin Fenner, Eric Davis and Eric Hargrove are all accused of bringing the incredibly dangerous new drug to the streets of Saint Paul. All three were in court Wednesday afternoon.
Kent Bailey is a supervisory special agent with the DEA who says the drug has already produced deadly results, "St. Paul Homicide attributed approximately ten overdose deaths in the last couple of months, three in the last week."
Fentanyl is a powerful pain-reliever that's used legally by cancer patients, AIDS patients and others recovering from surgery. But in recent months the drug has been mixed with heroin, with deadly results.
Bailey says the combination can, "Easily and quickly kill you. Like you're going to sleep, you just don't wake up."
A criminal complaint charges the three men who appeared in federal court with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine
Last month, according to the complaint, a confidential informant purchased 50 grams of crack from Kevin Fenner.
Due to the amount and the potency of the drugs involved, each man charged in this case faces a mandatory sentence of at least ten years in prison and a $4 million fine, if they are convicted.
"I think it's a marketing tool for the drug trafficking organizations, to say my heroin is better. They mix it with fentanyl and they get the consumer to try it," says Bailey.
In Chicago earlier this week, where dozens of heroin users have died, recently, authorities busted up another fentanyl-trafficking ring.
Investigators believe the fentanyl now in Saint Paul came here from Chicago.
"Judging by what's been happening in other parts of the country, now that we're seeing it here, it is a major concern," said St. Paul Police Officer Pete Crum.
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