Police link 3 student deaths, 6 other overdoses to fentanyl from Dallas-area home
Three students are dead and six were hospitalized after they overdosed on fentanyl that may have come from one Dallas-area home, according to a newly unsealed court document.
The home's residents, Luis Navarrete and Magaly Mejia Cano, are accused of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Authorities alleged they sold "M30" pills that made their way to the hands of students from three schools in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch district.
Investigators found that there have been 10 instances of students ages 13 to 17 overdosing on fentanyl in the Carrollton area since September. All attend R.L. Turner High School, Dewitt Perry Middle School and Dan F. Long Middle School, in the same district.
Three have died; one overdosed twice but survived.
According to the court document, Navarrete and Cano live in a home between the high school and Dewitt Perry Middle School, just blocks away from each.
"On multiple occasions, law enforcement members have observed Navarrete and Mejia Cano conduct hand-to-hand transactions with multiple individuals who sometimes arrive on foot and in vehicles," the document states. "Many of the hand-to-hand transactions were with juvenile students of R.L. Turner High School."
Two of the surviving students told law enforcement officials that they consumed the M30 pills before they were hospitalized, and one said she had bought multiple pills from Navarrete.
The Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Investigators also identified eight minor drug dealers, 14- to 16-year-olds who attend the high school, who they said were involved in distributing the fentanyl pills. One of the young dealers, a 16-year-old boy, was seen on video taking a package from Navarrete at the home and shared Instagram messages between him and Navarrete with officers.
Navarrete and Cano's attorneys declined to comment.
An order to detain Navarrete pending trial was granted Monday.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
