SEASIDE – A 31-year-old man was arrested in Monterey for allegedly selling fentanyl that led to an overdose death, police said.
On March 24, the Seaside Police Department responded to a medical call of a man who overdosed and ultimately died from fentanyl use at his home. After investigating the matter, Seaside detectives determined that Justin Born, 31 of Monterey, had sold the drugs to that man.
Seaside detectives set out Friday for Monterey to serve an arrest and search warrant for Born at his home on Ocean Avenue. During the trip, however, a driver struck a police vehicle. There were no injuries. The incident was unrelated to warrants being served and a woman was subsequently arrested, Seaside police said.
Seaside and Monterey detectives later tracked down Born. He was arrested and charged with manslaughter, as well as numerous drug trafficking felonies. A search warrant of Born’s home revealed over six ounces of fentanyl, a ghost gun and more than $16,000 in cash.
Seaside Chief of Police Nick Borges estimated the street value of Born’s fentanyl stash “somewhere in the ballpark of $30,000-35,000,” he said.
“To put it into context,” Borges continued, “a quarter of a sugar packet-size (pouch of fentanyl) is enough to kill several people if they have a low tolerance.”
A highly powerful opioid, Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Because of its extreme potency, Fentanyl poses a greater risk for overdose and fatality. But intensity forms only a piece of Fentanyl’s danger.
Non-prescribed fentanyl is being sold on Snapchat and Instagram as counterfeit pills like Percocet, Xanax and Oxycontin. Nearly half of all counterfeit pills tested contained a lethal dose of fentanyl, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Many who take counterfeit pills cut with fentanyl are unaware that they were ingesting a deadly dose of the drug.
In Monterey County, fatal overdoses from fentanyl tripled from 2019 to 2020.
“It’s a very scary situation,” Borges said.
Borges said through their investigation, Seaside detectives believe that Born was “selling fentanyl in high volumes throughout the Monterey Peninsula.”
“This arrest will save dozens and dozens of lives,” he went on.
Still, Borges added that “there’s more fentanyl here on our streets.”
“There are a lot more dealers out there (like Born),” he said. “Fentanyl is the most prominent drug in our area. … Based on what we know and what we’ve seen, there’s many like him, some are much bigger and some are smaller, but we don’t think he’s the only one.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Born was in custody at the Monterey County Jail. His bail is set at $50,000.
Source: www.mercurynews.com