Hartford Police have found a person of interest as they investigate how a 13-year-old boy acquired large amounts of fentanyl.
Nearly 100 small bags of fentanyl were found in the bedroom of an unidentified teenager in Hartford, Connecticut, who overdosed on the drug on Jan. 13 at the Sports and Medical Science Academy and died two days later, Sgt. Chris Mastroianni said. Details about the person of interest are unknown, though he does have a drug history, officials said.
HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“This individual does have narcotics history and will remain a person of interest, although we cannot label him a suspect at this point,” Mastroianni said during a town hall meeting Tuesday for parents in the Hartford public school system.
THAILAND SET TO BECOME FIRST COUNTRY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA TO DECRIMINALIZE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA
Police are still investigating how the teenager acquired the drugs, but the person of interest had a history of visiting the teenager’s house, Mastroianni said.
Officers executed a search warrant at his home the day the teenager overdosed and discovered 100 bags that matched the roughly 40 bags they found at the unidentified teenager’s school, according to Mastroianni. Police believe the 40 bags of fentanyl at the school came from him.
The fentanyl in the teenager’s possession was particularly pure, officials said.
“The fentanyl that was found in the bedroom had a very high purity rate. It was 60% pure, which is quite higher than what we normally see. We normally see 1 to 2% pure in street-level sales,” Lt. Aaron Boisvert said, according to WWNYTV.
Authorities said they have also been interviewing the seventh grader’s mother but said they do not have evidence that she had prior knowledge that he had the fentanyl. She is cooperating with the investigation, according to police.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Fentanyl, which is 50-100 times more potent than morphine, is a synthetic opioid that is often mixed with heroin or cocaine in illicit drug trades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 36,000 people died from synthetic opioid overdoses in 2019, and the death toll has likely ticked up during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the agency.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Hartford Police Department for comment but did not receive a response.
