A suspect believed to be connected to a group of vacationers who overdosed on cocaine mixed with fentanyl has been arrested in Florida, police confirmed to WSVN on Friday night.
Police at Wilton Manors, a city located in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area, did not name the suspect or link him to six West Point cadets who were hospitalized Thursday after drug overdoses. At least two of the students were football players at a military academy in New York.
A seventh person, identified only as a woman, was later taken to the hospital and treated, according to the Sun-Sentinel. It is unclear if she suffered an overdose or what condition she is in. It is also unknown if she visited West Point with other patients.
As of the end of Friday, only three remained in the hospital, the TV channel reported. Two are in serious condition, on artificial lung ventilation. The condition of the other patient is assessed as stable.
The two cadets were drug-free but were overwhelmed by the effects of fentanyl while trying to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on their sick friends, the Sun-Sentinel first reported Friday. It is not known where or how they got the drugs.
The students stayed at a short-term rental house listed on VRBO for $360 per night. The 1,596-square-foot home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a large backyard with a private pool, as described, and is a 15-minute walk from the beach.
Tenants vacated the house by Friday evening, according to reports. It remains unclear if the suspect stopped at the rental property with spring breakers.
contacted the US Army Academy at West Point and a spokesman said the prestigious military college was “aware” of an incident in Florida involving its students.
“The US Military Academy is aware of the West Point cadet situation that occurred Thursday night in Wilton Manors, Florida,” a West Point spokesman said in an email. “The incident is currently under investigation and no other details are available at this time.”
Six vacationers living in a rental property listed on VRBO for $360 a night were hospitalized Thursday after overdosing on cocaine laced with fentanyl. As of late Friday, only three remained in the hospital. Two are in serious condition, on artificial lung ventilation. The condition of the other patient is assessed as stable. The group stayed at a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, private pool house (pictured) located on the estates of Wilton, Florida.
Footage from a Local10 helicopter shows paramedics attempting to resuscitate six West Point Academy football players on spring break who overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday.
Officials say four college students staying at a rented house in Wilton Manors ingested the drug and went into cardiac arrest, and two of their friends fell ill after exposure to fentanyl while performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on patients.
A rescue worker in a HAZMAT suit works at a mass overdose site at Wilton Manors on Thursday evening.
Six of the patients are college students visiting Fort Lauderdale for spring break.
Vacationers with an overdose were treated with nalaxone on the spot and then taken to the hospital, where one of them was listed in critical condition.
On Thursday, paramedics carry one of the college kids out of the house with an overdose.
What is fentanyl and why is it so dangerous?
Fentanyl was originally developed in Belgium in the 1950s to help cancer patients cope with pain.
Given his extreme strength, he has become popular with drug users.
Overdose deaths associated with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl jumped from nearly 10,000 in 2015 to nearly 20,000 in 2016, surpassing conventional opioid painkillers and heroin for the first time.
And more than 72,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US in 2017, a record driven by fentanyl.
It is often added to heroin because it produces the same effect as the drug, with biologically identical effects. But according to US officials, it can be 50 times stronger than heroin.
In America, fentanyl is classified as a Schedule II drug, indicating that it has a high potential for abuse and can cause psychological and physical dependence.
A news video from a helicopter shows paramedics gathering in the yard of a short-term rental home at 29th Yard NW in Wilton Manors, where several people were found to be in cardiac arrest at 5:00 p.m. Thursday.
Footage from the scene shows rescuers providing first aid and placing several people on stretchers.
Fort Lauderdale fire battalion chief Steve Gollan told Local10 that two of the overdose victims became ill because they were trying to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the first four overdose victims. He said the victims were given an opioid overdose drug, naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan, to revive the victims.
Neighbors said they saw spring break being taken out of a rented house crowded with young vacationers.
“We’ve seen paramedics pull unconscious children out of the house by simply laying them on the grass,” Dana Fumosa, who lives a few houses downstairs, told NBC6.
A resident of the Cub Larkin area, who also witnessed paramedics rescue students, said: “We treat our military with a much higher standard and it was just heartbreaking.”
Four patients were taken to Broward Health Medical Center and the remaining two were taken to Holy Cross Hospital.
“These are healthy young people, college students in their prime,” Gollan said. “By getting this drug into their system, it is not known what kind of recovery a critical person will have.”
Fentanyl is an unpredictable and powerful synthetic painkiller that has been blamed for a rise in fatal drug overdoses. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and is used to relieve severe pain. It also slows down a person’s breathing and heart rate.
Neighbors at Wilton Manors told the Sun-Sentinel that the West Point cadets had been staying at the rented property for several days and that the police were called on Wednesday evening for an unspecified reason.
Two local residents said that they repeatedly complained to the managers of a country house about excessive noise and noisy parties.
“The last couple of days we’ve been hearing loud music, gatherings,” Fumosa told WSVN. “There were guys and girls. They seemed to be having a good time barbecuing and swimming in the pool.” It is not clear if she complained about travelers.
Meanwhile, Florida and Fort Lauderdale are bracing for a “triple” increase in visitors from last year as tens of thousands of students prepare to celebrate the first U.S. spring break free of COVID rules.
Residents of popular holiday destinations including Cancun, Miami, Pensacola, Fort Lauderdale and South Padre Island have to deal with endless crowds of college students who are having a good time, often playing loud music and drinking alcohol from the first week of March until April.
Starting last Saturday and through March 20, many Florida public school districts, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties, as well as the University of South Florida and Tampa, will be on vacation.
That means roughly 570,000 students will be on vacation at the same time in the Sunshine State, not to mention all the teachers and staff who will also have the day off, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
During last year’s spring break, about 65,000 passengers flew into Tampa Bay International Airport per day during peak weeks. However, in 2020, the number of spring breaks in March and April was “disappointingly low”, with only 1,500 people flying in per day.
Wilton Manors police tweeted a warning to holidaymakers about the dangers of illegal drugs following the incident. Officers also reminded travelers not to mix drugs with alcohol or other forms of drugs.
Many popular spring break destinations are expected to increase at least two to three times this year from March to April as resorts, nightclubs and other businesses hope to regain time lost in the past two years due to the pandemic. coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: a crowded beach in Miami on Friday. None of the people depicted were involved in the drug incident.
Some 570,000 students will be vacationing in the Sunshine State to have some fun on the beaches as they enjoy their first spring break free of any COVID-19 restrictions after poor results in 2020 and 2021. Pictured: Spring Break vacations on Miami Beach on Friday. None of the people depicted were involved in the drug incident.
A Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue lifeguard is watching for beachgoers Tuesday during spring break as many of them are expected to fill the city’s beach in the next few weeks. None of the people pictured were involved in the drug incident.
An empty bottle of tequila lies on the sand surrounded by people on the beach during spring break in Miami Beach on Friday.