- Discovery of Fentanyl in New York City Nursery
- Tragic Death and Hospitalization of Infants
- Indictments on Drug Conspiracy and Murder Charges
A kilogram of fentanyl was discovered under a nap mat in a New York City nursery where one infant died and three others were hospitalized, according to police.
On Friday, Nicholas Dominici, one, who had only been at the creche for a week, perished of a suspected drug overdose.
Three additional children were hospitalized after being exposed to the potent narcotic at the Bronx creche.
Two individuals have been indicted on drug conspiracy and murder allegations.
The children, aged eight months to two years, are believed to have inhaled fentanyl at the creche.
Three minors were administered Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses.
A search of the nursery uncovered one kilogram of fentanyl “under a mat where the children had been sleeping earlier,” according to NYPD chief detective Joseph Kenny.
Additionally, investigators allegedly found three presses used to compact kilograms of drugs.
Federal prosecutors have charged the owner of the Divino Nio nursery in the Bronx, Grei Mendez, 36, and her tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, with narcotics possession “with intent to distribute resulting in death” and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
We allege that the defendants poisoned four infants and killed one of them because they were operating a drug operation out of a creche,” Manhattan US Attorney Damien Williams said on Tuesday.
“Children in a nursery should not be surrounded by a drug that can kill them in an instant.”
The police estimate that the nursery’s recovered materials could have due 500,000 deaths.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, has been cited for the increase in drug-related deaths in the United States.
After discovering that her children were ill, Ms. Mendez called her spouse instead of dialing 911, as evidenced by surveillance footage and phone records. According to officials, her husband then arrived and removed several full shopping bags from the nursery.
Authorities are still searching for her spouse, who has been identified as a co-conspirator in court documents.
She denied the charges and said she was unaware that the nursery had prohibited medications, according to her lawyer.
According to ABC News, her attorney Andres Aranda stated, “Her only crime was renting her room to a person who possessed a kilo.”
There is no evidence that she provided improper care for these infants.
It is unknown whether Mr. Brito, the cousin of Ms. Mendez’s spouse, has an attorney.
Authorities have classified both suspects as flight risks and are holding them without bond. If convicted, they each face life in prison.
City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said a surprise examination of the nursery on September 6 revealed no breaches.
“I apologize, but my childcare inspectors are not trained to search for fentanyl. But perhaps they should,” he said at a Monday news conference.
At the same news conference, Mayor Eric Adams demanded a “full national assault” against the substance, emphasizing its potency.
A tenth of the measure of a fingernail is sufficient to kill an adult. Imagine how it might affect a child “He showed a photo of a deadly dose and a penny.
Recent research shows that fentanyl has reached almost every US state, including Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Alaska.
Less than 10% of the 40,000 drug overdose deaths in 2010 were fentanyl-related.
By 2021, opioid overdoses killed over 100,000 individuals per year, with 66% of those deaths due to fentanyl.
