Local authorities dealing with rise in opioid overdose cases
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’re talking to Grovetown Police Department after an opioid overdose ended with one person dead and another in jail.
Authorities say Johnny Vasquez-Morales itted to selling fentanyl and cocaine. He’s facing drug trafficking charges.
Officials say after the autopsy and toxicology reports come back, more charges could be added after investigators meet with the DA’s office.
Chief Jamey Kitchens says they are seeing the same issue they have seen over the years common with cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin. Dealers are cutting it to get more yield out of their product, but with fentanyl, it creates a deadly combination.
“He’s gonna sell his pure powder. He’s gonna cut the fool out of it. So he’ll have two ounces of this and about four ounces of whatever. He’s gonna cut it with baking soda, or whatever else the case may be. That’s how he’s going to yield his profit,” said Kitchens.
A stronger drug, a higher price, and keeps the customer wanting more, a recipe for death when you’re playing with fentanyl.
“In the past six months, we have seen roughly about a dozen cases that have involved some form of positive indication for fentanyl present,” he said.
In Richmond County, there have been 63 overdoses in 2022, many of those involving fentanyl. With another 67 autopsies still pending toxicology results.
Kitchens says when they arrived on the scene Thursday, what appeared to be cocaine, was not just cocaine.
“You had fentanyl that was present in the cocaine that you wouldn’t have known unless we did the field test,” he said.
The CDC says fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
“That’s just a dangerous combination,” said Kitchens.
He says getting it off the streets is not an easy fix.
They do believe they were able to get the drugs involved in Thursday’s death, at least those not already sold, off the streets on Thursday.
“The batch yesterday that led to this death, we feel confident that we got the supplier. We got all of his supply,” said Kitchens.
He says the biggest takeaway is that the drug is out there and likely mixed with what you may be purchasing. It comes in powder, pill, and liquid form making it harder to identify with the bare eye.
Copyright 2022 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
