Two people are dead and two others are in serious condition after overdosing on drugs in Forsyth County this weekend, officials said.
A 33-year-old man died as a result of an apparent overdose on Valley Lane, Forsyth County sheriff’s Deputy Doug Rainwater said. A 28-year-old woman at the same address was taken to a hospital, where she remained Monday.
A 30-year-old man was also taken to a hospital Sunday after officials found him apparently overdosed at a Nichols Road address.
A fourth victim, a 19-year-old woman, was found dead Monday morning in the Polo Fields subdivision, Rainwater said.
Authorities believe the overdoses may “be indicative of a bad batch of deadly drugs such as heroin or fentanyl making their way into Forsyth County this weekend.”
While Rainwater couldn’t cite recent statistics concerning drug-related deaths in the county, he said this spike of overdoses is rare.
Heroin and fentanyl overdose deaths have risen nationwide, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Just last week, a top U.S. State Department official said America is making progress in the fight against its opioid and heroin overdose epidemic by working closely with Mexican and Chinese authorities.
36 hours, 1 county, 4 overdoses, 2 deaths: Is fentanyl in your neighborhood?: https://t.co/JtttwqBpWv The latest starting at 4 pic.twitter.com/GvRFZnsodV
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) April 24, 2017
Mexico is now the source of most of the heroin consumed in the U.S., William Brownfield, assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, told The AJC.
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In Forsyth County, deputies found evidence of “significant drug trafficking taking place” and large amounts of suspected heroin, marijuana, prescription narcotics, unknown white powders and large sums of money, according to a Facebook post.
“Our deputies are working nonstop to locate and apprehend the dealers of this poison in our community,” the sheriff’s office said in the post.
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