Fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic that can be up to 50 times more potent than heroin, is killing drug abusers at an alarming rate and placing increased stress on first responders throughout South Florida. The drug, a prescription painkiller that has flooded South Florida streets through pipelines from Mexico and China the past few years, has continued to cast a pall despite China banning its manufacturing earlier this year after pressure from Washington.Through August of this year, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office, 130 people have died from overdoses on fentanyl. That’s already more than a 20 percent increase over all of last year. And it dwarfs the number of overdoses from fentanyl between 2010 and 2014 when about 20 people a year died from overusing the drug. “The problem is bad and it’s getting worse,” said Miami Fire Chief Maurice Kemp. Kemp said that in the first eight months of this year, paramedics have administered Narcan — an opiate antidote used to combat fentanyl overdoses — to 1,023 people.
The department used 493 doses all of last year. Costs to the city for Narcan have increased from $43,000 to more than $155,000. Law enforcement experts believe the wave in opioid abuse can be traced back to the crackdown a few years back on Oxycodone. Often, users believe they’re buying heroin, but are given fentanyl instead. The drug can be used through a patch, snorted, swallowed or injected. Cutting the pipeline from other countries to South Florida has proved troublesome, as purchasers find new ways to ship the drugs that have even proved dangerous to postal workers who can be exposed if the drugs touch their skin. The Miami Herald chronicled the rise of the synthetic drug in its Pipeline China series last year. And prosecutions have been difficult as investigators have had a hard time keying in on main suppliers instead of low-level street dealers. Still, there have been some: In March, a Miramar man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for importing variants of fentanyl from a prisoner in Canada, who was in turn ordering the drugs from China.
Authorities said he used the virtual currency known as Bitcoin to pay for the drugs.And last month, Christopher Sharod Massena, 24, of Palm Beach County, was convicted at trial of a single count of distribution of fentanyl, resulting in death. To combat the issue and inform the public, a dozen South Florida law enforcement and government leaders gathered Friday at the Miami Police College Auditorium. They presented slide shows and spoke of the drug’s dangers to the public. Miami Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes said officers were being trained to identify users and learn how to deal with them. Pamphlets are being made available in high drug use areas. And sellers are being targeted. “We’re not in the business of arresting drug addicts,” he said. Assistant Miami-Dade police director Freddy Ramirez called the increased use of fentanyl a “scourge.” He said that his officers have created a task force called Operation Smackdown and that so far 97 arrests have been made and more than 10.5 kilos of heroin have been confiscated.
He didn’t mention how much fentanyl had been seized. Homeland Security Deputy Special Agent John Toban said arresting dealers is difficult because the majority of the fentanyl that is distributed in the United States arrives through deals made on the Dark Web or Dark Net, underground websites where IP addresses are hidden. “It’s a national priority, dismantling those organizations,” he said. Miami Herald Staff Writer David Ovalle contributed to this report.About this itemImportant Made in USA Origin Disclaimer:About this itemImportant Made in USA Origin Disclaimer:SpecificationsGenderIs Downloadable Content AvailableYAge RangeGenreModelBrandVideo Game GenreVideo Game PlatformFabric ContentMaterialManufacturer Part NumberSubgenreColorPublisherFeaturesAssembled Product Dimensions (L x W x H)No question have been asked yet. /careplansGet a warranty for it here.Gifting plansPricing policyOnline Price Match.ReturnsReturns Policy.Recent promotional and recruitment footage from WB Montreal may have just leaked a new Batman game starring Bruce Wayne's son, Damien, that was rumored to be in the works some time ago.
I'm about to lead you through a twisted trail of rumors and bread-crumbs, but we're on a fast-track to the hype train; I'm going to make this all quick and painless for you. Back in June, rumors started circulating that two new games were in development my WB Montreal. This is the studio that developed Batman: Arkham Origins which, while less popular than the mainline Arkham game trilogy, boasts the best story in the entire franchise. It's one of the best super hero games ever made, so a new Batman game from this studio is something worth getting excited about. That's not all, though. We heard that the same studio is working on some kind of Suicide Squad game as well - an open world brawler of some kind. Sounds pretty bizarre right? Easy to write off, at any rate. Then September came with a little corroboration. A NeoGAF member, vetted by moderators, posted the following information in regard to these games: "Indeed, WB Montreal is working on two games right now. Suicide Squad, in which they go help from Rocksteady.
- is a brawler- you create your own avatar, grow it out, with tiers of rewards- many characters to choose- coop-action- Borderlands esque- targeted for 2017 release.Next game is the Damian Wayne game.- has been greenlit last summer- 10 years in the future (I think our future from 10 years now, not quite Batman Beyond)- Bruce is old and has a beard- harness on his leg- uses a walking stick- is mentoring Damian Wayne to be the new Batman- Damian has a Batbike- lots of great characters and also new ones, lot's or redesigns, like Black Mask being a female- Dick's in it, has a shaved head- some other villains are Flamingo, Poison Ivy and White Rabbit(old, looks like a granny)Game is starting to roll in production, so we might no see it for a while, but I am very excited. Back to present day. WB Montreal has posted some videos about it expanding the DC Universe in the interactive space, and the videos show a few clips of what seems to be an open-world game in development. WCCF Tech was even able to score a screen-cap of a frame that clearly shows Batman on-screen.