DEA Probes Mountainair Fentanyl, Meth Exposure After 3 Die and 19 Are Hospitalized
Updated
Updated · Santa Fe New Mexican · May 22
DEA Probes Mountainair Fentanyl, Meth Exposure After 3 Die and 19 Are Hospitalized
3 articles · Updated · Santa Fe New Mexican · May 22
Three people died and 19 others were hospitalized after exposure to powdered fentanyl and methamphetamine at a home on Honlon Avenue in Mountainair, authorities said.
DEA agents from the Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team worked the scene Thursday in hazmat suits, oxygen tanks and gas masks, signaling an investigation into a suspected drug-manufacturing site.
At least 18 of those hospitalized were first responders exposed while handling the overdose scene a day earlier in the Torrance County community of fewer than 1,000 residents.
The substance was not publicly identified at first, and the federal response has intensified scrutiny of what residents describe as a worsening drug problem in Mountainair.
With overdose deaths declining, why is the street drug supply becoming deadlier than ever?
Could wastewater analysis have predicted this small town's deadly drug threat?
As new drugs resist naloxone, how will first responders be protected?