Puerto Rico police investigate 8 deaths and about two dozen suspected fentanyl overdoses in one town

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — (AP) — At least eight people have died in a town on Puerto Rico’s north coast in recent days after around two dozen suffered from suspected overdoses linked to drugs likely contaminated with fentanyl, police said Tuesday.

The eighth victim was a 26-year-old man who died at a hospital where he was being treated, police said in a statement.

The first victims were discovered Thursday at a public housing project and other areas in the coastal town of Arecibo.

Puerto Rico’s Health Department has announced a public health emergency and dispatched crews to the area to try and identify those with overdose symptoms to prevent additional deaths.

The U.S. Caribbean territory’s police chief ordered operations at two public housing projects in Arecibo late last week, with local officers and federal agents detaining at least six people for allegedly possessing and selling drugs. The investigation is ongoing.

In 2022, there were 590 reported deaths on the island of 3.2 million people linked to fentanyl, a number that rose to 635 last year.

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