'Like Russian roulette': Counterfeit opioids laced with fentanyl a deadly problem in Central Texas

When Becky Stewart hadn't heard from her 19-year-old son in several hours, she decided to check on him at his Leander apartment.

But when she got there on March 20, Cameron Stewart wouldn't answer the door and she called police. Officers found him dead inside and later said he had died from taking an illegal pill laced with a deadly amount of fentanyl.

"Through Snapchat he had bought a pill thinking it was Valium but it contained a lethal dose of fentanyl," she said.

Counterfeit pills being sold with illegal fentanyl in them are a major problem in Central Texas, said Lora Makowski, the chief of the legal division for the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas.

"We are currently investigating several overdose deaths," Makowski said.

One group of people arrested in a drug bust announced by Cedar Park police in the first week of January was responsible for distributing hundreds of thousands of counterfeit tablets laced with fentanyl in the past months, she said.

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"Unfortunately," Makowski said, "there are many more distributors we have not yet caught."

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is sometimes prescribed legally for pain management but can be fatal when used illegally because even small amounts can kill a person.

A joint federal, state and local investigation led to an announcement on Jan. 6 of the arrest of 13 people charged in connection with a major fentanyl trafficking operation across Central Texas.

Authorities seized more than 100,000 counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl with a street value of more than $1 million, officials said. Most of the seized pills were going to be sold as counterfeit oxycodone pills, said Cedar Park police Cmdr. Darlene Lewis.

Nine people were arrested on federal indictments for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and four others were arrested on federal possession of fentanyl charges, police said.

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Counterfeit pills lead to overdoses

Counterfeit pills marketed as opioids but laced with fentanyl have been contributing to recent overdose deaths across the Central Texas area, and the country.

Cedar Park police began their investigation in 2020 after noticing an increase in overdose deaths, Lewis said. The city has had 23 overdoses in the past two years, including nine fatalities, she said.

"We were trying to determine where the overdoses were coming from," Lewis said, "and we were finding people who thought they had taken oxycodone."

The number of fatal overdoses doubled in Williamson County from 2019 to 2021, according to figures from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The county reported 33 fatal overdoses in 2019 and 66 fatalities in 2021.

Drug overdose deaths also rose in Hays and Travis counties between 2019 and 2021, according to state health figures. In Travis County, 166 people died from overdoses in 2019. That number rose to 212 deaths in 2021, according to state figures. In Hays County, the deaths from drug overdoses increased from 10 in 2019 to 24 in 2021.

In Bastrop County, fewer than 10 people died from drug overdoses both in 2019 and 2021, according to state health figures. When drug overdose deaths are nine or fewer per year, the state does not publish the numbers to preserve privacy.

However, the Bastrop County sheriff's office found 2,200 counterfeit Oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl when deputies searched a home and arrested two residents in the Shiloh community on Dec. 21. The pills were worth $43,000.

Fentanyl-laced pills are a threat not only in Central Texas, but also across the country, said DEA spokesman Sammy Parks.

"In general, fentanyl-related deaths are at an all-time high," he said.

From June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021, there were 100,255 overdose deaths in the United States, Parks said.

"The main driver is counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl," he said. "It's become a game changer. We are seeing it at very deadly doses at just 2 milligrams a pill."

Where do the counterfeits come from?

During the opioid epidemic that began more than a decade ago, people went to doctor's offices to get oxycodone, Parks said. The DEA investigated doctors who were over-prescribing and shut them down, but now the illegal activity has shifted, he said.

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"We shut the pill mills down but this opened an opportunity for the Mexican drug trafficking cartels to make counterfeit pills and put them out on the streets," Parks said.

The counterfeit pills are often sold through social media sites such as Snapchat and can be delivered to a customer's door, he said. "A lot of them are marketed to younger kids and anyone with a smart phone can be a target," Parks said.

The people who buy the fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills often have had limited exposure to any kind of illicit drugs, Parks said. A college student may buy one thinking that it is Adderall that will help them study for an exam, he said. Adderall is a type of stimulant commonly used for attention deficit disorder.

"Most people taking the pills are not aware that the pill is laced with fentanyl and think it's a legitimate pharmaceutical pill," he said.

The DEA has seen an increase in fentanyl seizures and also illegal fentanyl sales on the streets in the past two to three years, Parks said.

Most of the counterfeit pills with fentanyl are being smuggled in from Mexico and sold from $15 to $20 apiece, officials said.

The Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, an Austin-based nonprofit that aims to reduce the harmful consequences of substance abuse, has recommendations for people who are trying to stop using fentanyl.

"Scale back slowly what you use, never use alone and always carry Narcan in case of an overdose," said Gaby Libretti, the drop-in center coordinator. The organization also gives out Narcan, as well as fentanyl strips that people can use to detect fentanyl in pills. For help call 512-580-0580.

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Mom creates 'Change for Cam'

Becky Stewart said she has started her own campaign talking to students about the dangers of purchasing counterfeit drugs since her son died. She said she talked to her son the day before he died and he seemed to be doing well, though he had suffered from anxiety and had struggled with substance abuse.

"We were making plans to take his dog down to Town Lake," she said.

Cameron Stewart, a graduate of Cedar Park High School, was taking a year off and working for a lawn care company before deciding where he wanted to go to college, his mother said.

"He was funny, he was handsome, he was talented and an amazing athlete who ran track, played soccer and was a hurdler," Becky Stewart said. "He would come home almost everyday with new ideas and directions he wanted to go."

Becky Stewart's outreach campaign is called "A Change for Cam." She said she tells students how to respond to people offering them pill at parties or elsewhere.

"Be bold and take initiative," she said. "Ask 'Do you even know where the pill came from?' Don't be afraid to push back and say, 'I have no clue where it came from and I don't want to take it.'"

People who would like to submit anonymous tips about counterfeit opioid pills can call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

"Experimenting with pills is like taking Russian roulette," Stewart said. "You never know what you are going to get."

She said she was glad to hear about the drug bust in Cedar Park but is not sure if any of the people who were arrested were connected to the death of her son.

"We may never know who sold him that pill," she said, "and whoever it is may never get caught."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Fentanyl-laced pills blamed as overdose deaths rise in central Texas