EVANSVILLE, Ind.–Authorities are using the example of an Evansville man accused of dealing drugs to a Kentucky woman who died from an overdose, to stress that Indiana is seeing some seriously dangerous drugs being dealt across the state.
“A lot of the chemicals for fentanyl are coming from China and they’re going to Mexico and they’re being distributed throughout the United States,” said Mike Gannon, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, at a Tuesday news conference in Evansville.
LISTEN: News conference where the fake pill problem was discussed
At that same news conference, acting U.S. Atty. John Childress announced the arrest of Johntavis Matlock, 28, an Evansville man accused of repeatedly dealing heroin and possibly other drugs to Lindsey Wiley, 28, of Henderson, Kentucky, who OD’d in December 2020, was revived, and died from an overdose in February.
“A big thing we’re seeing here in Indiana, is we’re seeing counterfeit oxycodone pills, which are laced with fentanyl,” said Gannon, describing fentanyl as a extremely potent opioid.
“In Indiana alone we’re seizing hundreds of thousands of these pills throughout the whole state.”
Carfentanil, used in elephant tranquilizer, which is far more potent than regular fentanyl, has also been found in some pills recovered by authorities in Indiana.
“I think it’s important that anybody that has a loved one that they suspect may be utilizing drugs to send them the valuable message that they don’t know what they’re getting,” said Gannon. “These people that are distributing pills throughout the country, they’re not chemistry majors. They don’t know the control of quality of a dosage unit.”
Gannon said DEA labs have analyzed the pills seized in Indiana and determined that one in four of the counterfeit pills contain enough fentanyl for a fatal overdose.
