Fentanyl-laced marijuana found during drug arrest in North Austin: APD
AUSTIN, Texas - Fentanyl-laced marijuana was discovered during a drug arrest last week in North Austin, says the Austin Police Department.
After EMS responded to over 70 opioid overdose calls in the span of a week, APD launched an undercover operation to purchase narcotics from dealers and conduct surveillance and arrests.
Through this operation, detectives saw multiple "hand to hand" transactions by multiple people in the area of N Lamar Boulevard and Rutland Drive in North Austin, court documents say.
On May 2, one undercover officer drove to a business in the 9600 block of N. Lamar Boulevard and made contact with a man there, court documents say. The officer asked the man for $40 worth of crack cocaine and the man handed the officer two pieces from his jacket pocket.
The man was then arrested and identified as 32-year-old Kanady Arkangelo Rimijo.
Kanady Rimijo (Austin Police Department)
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During a search of Rimijo, an officer found eight baggies of a green leafy substance suspected to be marijuana, court documents say.
The suspected crack cocaine and marijuana both tested positive for fentanyl.
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According to court documents, several overdose cases, arrests and other purchases by undercover officers in the 72 hours prior to Rimijo's arrest involved narcotics that "do not normally contain opioids", including crack cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
According to police, he had a total of 12.16 grams of fentanyl.
"That is a huge amount if it’s pure fentanyl, it takes a very minimal amount of fentanyl to have the effect intended, and it takes just a little more than a minimal amount to kill somebody. If someone knowingly sells fentanyl to someone, and they die, they can be charged with murder in some circumstances," said Austin Attorney Sam Bassett.
Rimijo has been charged with first-degree felony manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance penalty group 1B, between four and 200 grams.