HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Harlingen Police Department held a news conference Tuesday afternoon following a series of overdoses over the past weeks.
Twelve people overdosed in that timeframe, six of whom died in Harlingen and two others in Cameron County.
Toxicology reports are pending, but police suspect fentanyl may be involved.
“We can’t say fentanyl is involved, but because of the many deaths that have occurred over the last couple of weeks, it has made us believe the drugs ingested may contain fentanyl,” Harlingen Police Deputy Chief Alfredo Alvear stated.
Rene Perez, Director of Patient Transport Services for the South Texas Emergency Care Foundation, said there have been 12 cases where Narcan was used to successfully resuscitate the individual.
The conference comes only hours after two men were found inside a car outside of a Motel 6. Police added that one person died, and the other was transported to a local hospital. Narcan was administered and the second man remains in critical condition.
On Sunday morning, a man in his 50s died of an overdose at the same Harlingen home that was raided by authorities four days prior.
On Oct. 4, the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on the home, located at the 500 block of E. Cleveland Avenue. Two overdose victims alleged to have received drugs from 45-year-old Michael David Ramirez, a release stated.
Ramirez was arrested on two counts of manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance causing serious bodily injury or death, records show.
During the search of the home, authorities found drug paraphernalia, pills and other unknown substances that were sent to a lab for further testing.
