LOS ANGELES – Three men were found dead of suspected drug overdoses involving fentanyl in downtown Los Angeles, police said Thursday.
Officers discovered the dead men inside an apartment after police received a call about three unresponsive men late Wednesday, Los Angeles police said in a statement.
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CBSLA-TV reported that a powdery drug believed to be fentanyl was found in the apartment, along with drug paraphernalia.
Fentanyl is a highly lethal drug that has been cut into heroin for several years, and more recently has been pressed into counterfeit pills resembling prescription drugs. Experts link the drug to the rise in U.S. overdose deaths.
A responding officer who felt ill after arriving at the overdose scene is "in stable condition, they’re running some tests, but he’s expected to be released,” police Capt. Steven Ruiz told CBSLA.
Last month, President Joe Biden's administration released its first national drug control strategy.
“Provisionally, in the 12-months ending October 2021, an historic 105,752 persons are predicted to have died from a drug overdose,” the document said.
Synthetic opioids, including illicit fentanyl, were involved in 66% percent of these overdose deaths, it said.