Pubdate: Mon, 23 Jan 2017
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2017 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/bf0vhqGQ
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81

FIRST ELEPHANT TRANQUILIZER CHARGES BROUGHT IN FEDERAL COURT HERE

[Name redacted], is charged with selling about a kilogram of heroin mixed
with carfentanil -- the elephant tranquilizer -- and another potent
opioid, fentanyl.

A grand jury has indicted a Cincinnati man on charges of selling an
elephant tranquilizer in Chicago, the first time someone has been charged
here with selling the drug -- which is used by narcotics dealers to boost
the potency of heroin, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

[Name redacted] is accused of selling the mixture of drugs to the
informant on Sept. 9 in a vehicle near 93rd and Stony Island on the South
Side. An audio recording was made of the deal, authorities say. [Name
redacted] allegedly offered to sell the informant a kilogram of the
mixture for $65,000.

After the sale, the informant asked [Name redacted] about overdoses from
carfentanil in Cincinnati, authorities say.

"You got to cut it or they will die," [Name redacted] allegedly warned the
informant.

[Name redacted] also told the informant he could get rich selling the
mixture, authorities say.

"I'm telling you, bro. You going to have $1 million quick, one month -- $1
million, on my mama," [Name redacted] allegedly said.

A grand jury indicted [Name redacted] earlier this month and he was
arraigned Tuesday in federal court in Chicago.

Carfentanil, synthetic heroin also known as "super heroin," is 100 times
stronger than fentanyl and about 10,000 times stronger than morphine.
Carfentanil and fentanyl are added to heroin to increase its strength,
which is attractive to addicts but leads to increased deaths.

Zachary Fardon, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, warned of the dangers of
carfentanil in October during a speech at Northwestern University's
Pritzker School of Law.

"I mentioned that two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill a person.
Well, that same two milligrams of carfentanil is enough to knock out a
2,000-pound African elephant," Fardon said.

"So it's no surprise then that carfentanil-laced heroin is a killer. Last
month, it was responsible for at least eight overdose deaths in the
Cincinnati, Ohio, area. And unfortunately I can tell you that carfentanil
is not limited to Ohio and points east. It is right here in Chicago. Right
now."

This year, through the beginning of December, 392 deaths in Cook County
were attributed to heroin and 366 to fentanyl, officials say. A
46-year-old Chicago man who died in September was the first person known
to have died of carfentanil in Cook County. The results of his autopsy
were announced earlier this month.
- ---
MAP posted-by: