It seems like fentanyl is everywhere.

Whether it's legal drugs you can buy over the internet or illegal drugs you can buy in the streets, you never know if it's laced with the highly potent and deadly drug that has swept the nation.

As the new year began, Barrett Davidson bought some illegal narcotics in Lafayette Parish. That's according to the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office, who says Davidson got way more than he knew he was buying when the fentanyl the drugs were laced with ended up killing him at his home in the rural Maurice area of Vermilion Parish.

Daniel Duffy III, photo from VPSO
Daniel Duffy III, photo from VPSO
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Nearly nine full months after that fateful New Year's Day, detectives were able to identify and arrest the man they believe sold Davidson the fentanyl-laced drugs - 31-year-old Daniel Joseph Duffy III. Duffy was arrested on Wednesday night by Lafayette Police on a warrant for Second-Degree Murder. He is in the process of being transferred to Vermilion Parish, where his bond will be set at $250,000.00.

Fentanyl
Fentanyl, image from Youtube via CBC News
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Fentanyl has become a leading drug in an epidemic that takes over 100,000 lives each year, according to the CDC. The drug is often added to heroin without it being disclosed to the person buying the drug. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency outlines how dangerous fentanyl has become:

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine. Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin. Because of its powerful opioid properties, Fentanyl is also diverted for abuse. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin. Many users believe that they are purchasing heroin and actually don’t know that they are purchasing fentanyl – which often results in overdose deaths. Clandestinely-produced fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico.

 

In the video below, CBC News gives you a visual of how the painkiller became a public health crisis and why law enforcement officers across the country are fighting hard to get it off the streets.

Fighting Fentanyl: Huge Arrests Made Across Acadiana in 2022

The fight against fentanyl is a daunting one as the highly potent drug continues to take lives every day across the country. From Lafayette to the surrounding areas, law enforcement agencies have their hands full as they fight to get fentanly off their respective streets.

The awareness for the fatal causes of fentanyl are there as people across the Acadiana area (and the state) are not only mourning the death of loved ones lost to the substance but are holding memorials and recently worked with legislators to pass "Millie's Law," which increases criminal penalties for those who sale and distribute fentanyl.

Fentanyl has become a leading drug in an epidemic that takes over 100,000 lives each year, according to the CDC. The drug is often added to heroin without it being disclosed to the person buying the drug. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency outlines how dangerous fentanyl has become:

"Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine. Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin. Because of its powerful opioid properties, Fentanyl is also diverted for abuse. Fentanyl is added to heroin to increase its potency, or be disguised as highly potent heroin. Many users believe that they are purchasing heroin and actually don’t know that they are purchasing fentanyl – which often results in overdose deaths. Clandestinely-produced fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico."


Let's take a look back at headline-catching cases involving fentanyl in 2022.

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