Police have made an arrest this week in connection with a fentanyl overdose involving five US Military Academy cadets at a Florida vacation home during spring break.
Wilton Manors police said six men and one woman took an overdose of cocaine containing fentanyl and were taken to hospitals on Thursday. Officials said they made the arrest late Friday, but did not give specifics.
Florida officials identified the patients only as New York state college students. On Saturday, a spokeswoman for the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, said five cadets were involved and four had been taken to hospital.
A West Point official told the Associated Press on Friday that two of the cadets involved were football players, and one had been hospitalized. Fire officials said two patients are critically ill and on ventilators. The condition of the rest was stable or well and at least one was discharged from the hospital.
The chief of the Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Battalion, Steve Golan, said that after two victims fell, two others fell ill while trying to deliver CPR from the remains on their bodies.
“This incident serves as a stern reminder of the deadly effects of fentanyl for all, especially those approaching for spring break,” police said.
When paramedics arrived, six people needed treatment. Golan said the opioid-overdose-reversing drug naloxone was administered.
Fentanyl is an unpredictable and potent synthetic painkiller that has been blamed for an increase in fatal drug overdoses. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that it is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and used to treat severe pain. It also slows down a person’s breathing and heart rate.
Golan said that since January 1, his department has responded to 215 suspected opioid overdoses, nearly all of which involved fentanyl. He doesn’t know how many people died, but he said it was a two-year trend that began when the coronavirus pandemic began.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said Detectives are investigating with Wilton Manors police. A spokesperson said further details could not be released.
Neighbors living near Wilton Manors property where students overdose Told the South Florida Sun Sentinel Officers were called home on Wednesday night. The students were there for several days.
Neighbors told local media that the house was a vacation property, often rented out for up to 10 guests. He said it was often booked around holidays and on weekends by fun-lovers.