Officials reveal that Fentanyl-related deaths in American communities located 115 miles north the border with Mexico have risen 800 percent over recent years.
The fentanyl crisis in Riverside County has reached levels residents could not have imagined. It is located between Los Angeles and San Diego. This is Temecula with less than 115,000 inhabitants, which is known for its historic downtown and wine country.
Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin said that the area is facing a new danger at the border. It’s fentanyl.
Hestrin claims that the number of deaths related to fentanyl has increased by over 800 percent in the past five years. Although official numbers are not available for 2021, it is likely that the death toll from fentanyl will surpass the previous year’s record-breaking figure.
Hestrin stated that residents often inhale unknowingly so much fentanyl, they need to be revived using multiple doses. Hestrin stated that a woman who had overdosed on Fentanyl required 13 doses of Narcan in order to recover her health.
Hestrin has taken action against drug dealers in the region, accusing them of manslaughter for causing the deaths of their clients due to fentanyl. After Alexander Hastings Neville, a 14-year old who died after taking a fentanyl-laced pill, the Orange County, California (which borders Riverside County) case made national headlines.
Rep. Ken Calvert (R. CA) stated this week at a Temecula meeting that “we must take a warfare-like footing against these killing Americans.” Rep. Darrell Issa (R.CA) proposed a similar plan that would criminally indict every person involved in the chain for fentanyl distribution and murder when an American is killed.
Issa stated, “If you have a finger of fentanyl on you lips, you will die.”
Officials in California said that the Democrat-controlled legislature, and Governor. While Gavin Newsom (D), California officials said that they are not interested in helping Riverside County combat fentanyl dealers. However, federal prosecutors have made significant progress in recent months.
Federal prosecutors in San Diego imposed a 25 year sentence on Jahvaris Lamoun Simpson, 31, for selling U.S. Army veteran Brendan James Gallagher fatal amounts of fentanyl.
This sentence is the longest ever recorded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California for the crime of distributing Fentanyl resulting death.
More than 100,000 Americans die each year from drug overdoses every year, including small doses of Fentanyl. To put it another way, the U.S. loses a population as large as South Bend, Indiana every year due to drugs that mainly cross the border.
