This news article explores the efforts to hold drug dealers accountable for the deaths caused by the drugs they sell. It highlights the case of Briana Martin, who died from a suspected fentanyl overdose in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and the RCMP's investigation into her dealer. The article also examines a new law in California named 'Alexandra's Law', which allows for more serious charges against individuals directly linked to an overdose death.
As threats of U.S tariffs place renewed attention on the deadly flow of fentanyl, the CBC looks at efforts to hold dealers directly accountable for the deaths they cause.Briana Martin died from a suspected fentanyl overdose in Nanaimo on March 31, 2024. RCMP obtained a search warrant in a bid to find the dealer who sold her the drugs that led to her death. Two weeks before Briana Martin died, her boyfriend called police to warn that Nanaimo's drug dealers were becoming more "aggressive.
Sitting in his kitchen almost a year later, Whitehead said he still doesn't know who sold her the combination of fentanyl and benzodiazepine that the coroner told him killed her. According to the B.C. Coroner's Service, Nanaimo recorded 94 tainted drug deaths last year, down from 114 in 2023 — a drop that mirrors a recent decrease in toxic drug deaths across the province.
"I believe that the contact information on the device will indicate people that Martin communicated with in the Nanaimo drug trade. I believe that I will be able to match these contacts with known drug sellers and potentially identify who sold Martin drugs." "Some of the drug dealers were trying to help Martin by not selling to her, but then she would go to someone new to get it."
As in Martin's case, police also looked to Alexandra's phone for evidence that might lead to a drug dealer. Capelouto says the new law functions as a last-chance "admonishment" for anyone convicted of a drug offence: the drugs they're dealing can kill and if someone dies, they're liable for the harshest penalty the justice system can deliver."If you disregard that warning and you continue to deal deadly drugs and somebody dies as a result — now prosecutors have that evidence.
"In my view, it would be a mistake to understate the aggravating nature of the trafficking of fentanyl," the judge wrote.
Fentanyl Drug Trafficking Overdose Deaths Justice System Accountability
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