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Tag: Fentanyl

Burning Man event in Las Animas County cancelled over ‘non-consensual fentanyl drugging’ concerns
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Approved, KKTV CBS 11, Local

Burning Man event in Las Animas County cancelled over ‘non-consensual fentanyl drugging’ concerns

By Aaron Vitatoe | KKTV LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - A suspected attempted drugging involving fentanyl forced the cancellation of a Burning Man event in southern Colorado. Apogaea is a Burning Man-sanctioned event held every June in Colorado, according to their website. Over the weekend, they were set to hold their event in Las Animas County near Trinidad. As the weekend kicked off, though the Apogaea Board of Directors instructed everyone to leave the event, and asked anyone on the way to turn around, for safety reasons. On Sunday, they confirmed the reason for the cancellation was suspected non-consensual drugging involving fentanyl. They said, luckily, no one was dosed or physically harmed at the event, and no one needed medical attention. According to a post on Fa...
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ICE, FBI, DEA take down fentanyl ring in Colorado tied to Honduran nationals
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

ICE, FBI, DEA take down fentanyl ring in Colorado tied to Honduran nationals

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Five people were indicted by a Colorado grand jury on charges of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado. The indictment for the case cites five incidents between June 24, 2024, and April 15, 2025, wherein officials alleged that the defendants had either 400 grams or 40 grams or more of fentanyl and were intending to sell it. The office identified the defendants and their charges in the case as: Exor Omar Villanueva Raudales, aka “Brian, 36 Two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl Two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl Alex Yubini Can...
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Nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl powder seized in drug trafficking operation on Colorado’s Western Slope
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local, Western Slope

Nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl powder seized in drug trafficking operation on Colorado’s Western Slope

By Jennifer McRae | CBS Colorado Seven people have been arrested, accused in a drug trafficking operation in Garfield County on Colorado's Western Slope. According to investigators, approximately four pounds of methamphetamine, three ounces of cocaine, nine-and-a-half pounds of fentanyl powder, and approximately 220 fentanyl pills, along with a firearm, were seized. The Garfield County Sheriff's Office said that suspects Sindy Vazquez Martinez and Osbaldo Ramirez-Andrade operated a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine and additional illegal drugs from Frisco to Rifle. Investigators said that they used their residence in Glenwood Springs, located 185 yards from the front door of the Glenwood Springs Middle School and 60 yards from school property, as a base t...
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Polis faces pressure as veto showdown looms on sweeping social media bill
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Approved, KUNC, State

Polis faces pressure as veto showdown looms on sweeping social media bill

By Bente Birkeland | CPR News On November 8, 2020, Chelsea Congdon’s life changed forever.  She and her husband had invited friends over for a backyard party at their home in Old Snowmass. They were building a bonfire when a car from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department pulled up.  “The policeman came and found us there and let us know that our son Miles had died in Boulder and his body had been discovered that morning,” she recently recalled to CPR News. “It felt very unreal. And it feels as if your entire life just shatters on the floor and for some reason, you’re still standing. I mean, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s impossible to put together losing a kid.” Her son, Miles Brundige, was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Colorado. He’d grown up big ...
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Colorado’s fentanyl crisis exposes a deadly failure of leadership
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s fentanyl crisis exposes a deadly failure of leadership

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff A newly released report from Advance Colorado lays bare the devastating human cost of Colorado’s fentanyl crisis—and the state policies that helped fuel it. Titled “Communities in Ruin: The Human Cost of Fentanyl in Colorado,” the report delivers a searing indictment of legislative decisions made over the past six years—starting with a 2019 law that downgraded possession of deadly narcotics like fentanyl to a misdemeanor.  That’s when possession of up to four grams—enough to kill 1,500 people—started being treated like a minor infraction. Four years later, the state’s fentanyl-related overdose deaths have exploded by 440%, jumping from 222 deaths in 2019 to over 1,200 in 2023​. “Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 t...
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Pueblo sees uptick in fentanyl use
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Approved, CBS 11 KKTV, Local

Pueblo sees uptick in fentanyl use

By Michelle Wells | KKTV PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) - The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE) monitors the use of drugs, like fentanyl, by testing wastewater. According to their wastewater dashboard, last month fentanyl use in Pueblo increased for the first time this year. In a statement from PDPHE they say, “In March, wastewater data showed 10.82mg per 1,000 people, per day. Comparatively, that number was around 5mg per 1,000 people, per day in January and February. Overall, this number is much lower compared to March 2024, when wastewater data showed 20.95mg per 1,000 people, per day.” This means fentanyl use last month was about half of what it was in March 2024. PDPHE also says, “Higher levels of fentanyl are cause for concern because the amount of fen...
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“One pill away from death”: inside Colorado Springs’ undercover fentanyl crackdown
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Fox21, Local

“One pill away from death”: inside Colorado Springs’ undercover fentanyl crackdown

By Austin Sack | Fox27 News (COLORADO SPRINGS) — A record number of fentanyl pills are being seized across Colorado, with local law enforcement agencies like the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) crediting the success partly to their department’s ability to deploy officers undercover. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Rocky Mountain Field Division announced it seized nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills – or “fake” pills – in Colorado in 2024. This breaks the previous record set in 2023 with 2.61 million pills seized in the state. “It is an unfortunate record to set,” said DEA RMFD Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen. “We continue to work day in, day out fighting the cartels putting this poison on Colorado streets. While we have seen seizure numbers trendin...
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Colorado legislature to discuss bill that could remove social media users acting illegally
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Approved, DENVER7, State

Colorado legislature to discuss bill that could remove social media users acting illegally

By Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7 DENVER — A mother who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose wants stronger protections for people acting illegally on social media, and a bill scheduled for discussion on Monday could do just that. Among many things, SB25-086 would require social media companies to enact public policies for their platform and remove a user who violates them within 72 hours. "Users who are posting the sale or availability of fentanyl or other illicit drugs or illegal guns or opportunities for young people to engage in sex would be, should be removed from the platform," Chelsea Congdon said. Congdon lost her son Miles Brundige, 19, on Nov. 8, 2020. He was a sophomore at University of Colorado Boulder, suffering from a dislocated shoulder. READ FULL ARTI...
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Colorado drug bust includes elephant sedative
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado drug bust includes elephant sedative

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado Three people recently arrested for carrying drugs in western Colorado had among their stash an opioid said to be 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl.  A Delta County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled over a vehicle on March 3 that was swerving over the lane stripes on Highway 50 west of Delta.  Another Delta deputy invited his K9 "Teg" to sniff the vehicle. The dog alerted to the presence of narcotics.  The deputies removed the three people from the car and searched it, finding approximately 1500 fentanyl pills, 50 grams of fentanyl powder, 12 grams of ecstacy pills, 454 grams of methamphetamine, and 21 grams of Carfentanil.  READ FULL ARTICLE ON CBS COLORADO
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Border patrol has seized more eggs than Fentanyl so far this year
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Approved, National, Newsweek

Border patrol has seized more eggs than Fentanyl so far this year

By Newsweek U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized more egg products from United States borders this year than it has seized pounds of fentanyl. Statistics from the CBP website show that so far in 2025, the agency has seized 5,938 egg products and 1,631 pounds of fentanyl coming into the US. Newsweek could not make an exact one-to-one comparison as CBP measures eggs by number of products and fentanyl by weight. READ THE FULL STORY AT NEWSWEEK
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