Suffolk PD: Fatal overdoses linked to fentanyl in Coram; 2 in custody
The series of deadly drug overdoses prompted a massive response from police to identify the source of the drugs.
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Suffolk County police have two people in custody who they say are connected to a batch of fentanyl-laced crack-cocaine that killed three people and critically injured a fourth person in Coram on Friday.
Officers responded to a home on Judith Drive around 2 p.m., where they found a man, 39, in a tent in the yard dead from an apparent drug overdose.
Around 7:12 p.m., officers found a man, 24, and a woman in a yard on nearby Fife Drive. The man was dead from a suspected drug overdose and the woman was severely hurt and taken to a hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
Minutes later, officers said they responded to the back of a business on Middle Country Road where they found a fourth man, 58, dead, also believed to be from drugs.
Witnesses said police were behind the Coram East Shopping Plaza.
The series of deadly drug overdoses prompted a massive response from police to identify the source of the drugs. The department utilized additional detectives who specialize in overdose investigations who canvassed for witnesses, evidence and video.
"Our mission last night was to get that message out to everybody in the community that this dangerous batch of drugs was out there and we wanted to, quite frankly, stop the bleeding," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said.
RELATED: Suffolk PD issues warning following overdose deaths in Coram
The Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence put out a "buyer's beware notice" to the community to warn potential users about the potentially fatal bad batch of drugs.
"There is a lethal toxin that is showing up in Coram," Executive Director Steve Chassman said. "[Use] fentanyl test strips, have your naloxone present. We're trying to keep Long Islanders safe."
Police said they executed search warrants at two unnamed locations in Coram and took two people into custody after discovering 20 grams of powdered fentanyl, other drug paraphernalia, a gun and cellphones.
Catalina wouldn't share more about those individuals except to say they were previously known to law enforcement.
Suffolk County police said there have been no additional overdoses or deaths since yesterday, but the investigation is ongoing.
