District Attorney Vern Pierson issues a
Public Safety Alert on the subject of Norco laced with fentanyl.
A eighth person has died as a result of
ingesting Norco pills laced with fentanyl, which is odorless and estimated to be
80 times as potent as morphine and hundreds of times more potent than
heroin. One of the latest confirmed
victims in the fentanyl related deaths is an 18 year old El Dorado Hills
resident. This brings the total count of
overdoses in the Sacramento region to 36, including 8 deaths. One death has
been reported in Yolo County.
The Sacramento County Division of
Public Health began receiving reports last week from local hospitals that the Norco
tablets may be contaminated.
It is not uncommon for street drugs and
prescription medications found in El Dorado County to have come from
Sacramento. The DEA has said that the
fentanyl is coming from China, via the Mexican drug trafficking cartels. Vern Pierson commented, "Prescription
drug abuse is already on the rise across our County and in our schools. This new threat is another example of the
dangers associated with illegal drug use."
As you can see from the articles
referenced below, the numbers are rapidly changing.
http://www.kcra.com/news/local-news/news-sacramento/6th-person-dies-in-sacramento-county-from-laced-norco-pills/38751232
http://fox40.com/2016/03/31/dea-fentanyl-being-sold-as-norco-linked-to-china/
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article69241897.html
http://pio.edso.org/press-release/1620/