#methamphetamine

#methamphetamine

(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

Despite a state crackdown to seize fentanyl and arrest its traffickers and dealers in San Francisco, more of the city's residents fatally overdosed on the synthetic opioid in May than in any month since at least 2020, according to city and county data.The California Highway Patrol has seized more than eight pounds of fentanyl in the city's Tenderloin district and its surrounding areas since May, following the governor's announcement of a task force with state and local authorities targeting traffickers and dealers.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Several Los Angeles police officers were justified when they shot at and killed a man who brandished a handgun, but six of their colleagues broke department policy by joining in the barrage of gunfire last July, according to a police oversight panel.The civilian Police Commission found late last month that four of the 10 officers - Luis Avalos, Garrett Vanhooser, Christopher Gonzalez and Chad Heistermann - who opened fire on Rudolfo Torres were within policy.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Orange County sheriff's officials are being accused in court records of planting evidence by moving drugs found in one investigation into the file of a second, unrelated drug case.More than 17 grams of methamphetamine were found in five plastic bags in a room of a Buena Park motel during an investigation in 2020.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

California has agreed to pay $24 million to the family of a man who died after yelling "I can't breathe" as officers pinned him to the ground and tried to draw his blood following a traffic stop, attorneys for the family said Wednesday.The deadly encounter in March 2020 came just months before the police killing of George Floyd, who uttered the same phrase to Minneapolis officers more than 20 times.

SAN FRANCISCO In their endless bid to stop drug dealing in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood, authorities have added a new layer to the formula of sending undercover cops to buy drugs from whoever's willing to sell: planting hidden cameras at the scene.Now, federal prosecutors are marching into court equipped with videos allegedly showing defendants selling drugs to undercover San Francisco police officers.

John Blanchard / The Chronicle The pandemic took a heavy toll on San Francisco's already struggling retailers, with dozens shuttering in the city's downtown core since 2020 as office workers fled the area and shopping moved increasingly online.Closures hit some of the biggest merchants in the world, including Amazon, CVS and Walgreens, as well as beloved small businesses that were dependent on office workers such as 22-year-old newstand Fog City News and 32-year-old Alexander Book Co.

The bust this week was part of an ongoing investigation to intercept drugs funneling into the Tenderloin and found meth, cocaine, heroin, a ghost gun, and tens of thousands in cash at multiple locations, according to authorities.SFPD said in a statement Friday that its recent drug bust seized over 23 pounds of narcotics (including more than 21 pounds of fentanyl), paraphernalia, one ghost gun, and over $28,000 in cash from at least three locations in San Francisco and Oakland.

A correction to an earlier version of this article has been appended to the end of the article.Two people died in San Jose of suspected exposure, increasing the recent cold-weather-related death toll in the Bay Area to at least four amid plunging temperatures that have prompted a freeze warning for Wednesday morning.

Two people died in San Jose of suspected exposure, increasing the recent cold-weather-related death toll in the Bay Area to at least four amid plunging temperatures that have prompted a freeze warning for Wednesday morning.The two latest victims were found in the 95112 zip code, which includes downtown San Jose, according to Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michelle Jorden.

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court granted a stay of execution on Friday to Richard Glossip, a death row inmate in Oklahoma, after the state's attorney general, Gentner F. Drummond, a Republican, told the justices that he agreed that Mr. Glossip's execution should be halted.In a rare move, Mr. Drummond wrote that the state had come to the difficult but essential conclusion that Glossip's capital conviction is unsustainable and a new trial imperative.

A California man and his alleged partner in cybercrime took to the dark web to peddle, among other drugs, thousands of fake oxycodone pills that were laced with fentanyl, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.Now they're facing life in prison after being caught up in an FBI sting.In a 19-count federal grand jury indictment, Westminster resident Michael Ta, 24, and Houston resident Rajiv Srinivasan, 37, are accused of "a conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine," according to a Department of Justice news release.

Two years after a man died in police custody after being detained as a DUI suspect, attorneys for his family have obtained a video showing his last moments as California Highway Patrol officers hold him and forcibly draw his blood as he repeatedly tells them, "I can't breathe."Seven California Highway Patrol officers and a nurse were charged with manslaughter Wednesday in connection with the death of a man who screamed, "I can't breathe!," as they tried to draw blood from him, prosecutors said.

Federal agents and Los Angeles police detectives uncovered a supply line of custom-made, untraceable ghost guns being built to arm gang members on the streets of Wilmington, authorities said Monday.LAPD Deputy Chief Gerald Woodyard said LAPD narcotics detectives working with the Long Beach-based Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents recovered 82 firearms, including 42 ghost guns used by the Eastside Wilmas gang, along with 19 pounds of methamphetamine, 5½ pounds of cocaine and 3 kilograms of fentanyl.

Melissa Bauman, who had grappled with drug addiction for years, was ready to get clean when she called her mother for help last summer.Karri Ryder said her 24-year-old daughter had started using fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid.The two agreed that Bauman should get help at a sobering center.

The Mission is one of the top neighborhoods where accidental overdose occurs.While accidental overdoses can happen in the street or in people's homes, several bartenders and patrons note overdoses happen in bars or clubs - and that having Narcan nearby reversed a fatal consequence.Here's where to find, and tips on how to use, potentially life-saving resources like fentanyl test strips and naloxone in the neighborhood.

State police have identified the woman killed in a Taunton crash that occurred Monday afternoon as a suspect in a narcotics investigation fled authorities.Lori Ann Medeiros, 54, was fatally injured in the Kingman Street crash, police said.Members of a state police narcotics task force were surveilling 34-year-old Hector Bannister-Sanchez as he allegedly picked up drugs from a stash house and drove to the home of a suspected customer in Middleborough, according to a MSP news release.

Crime Authorities also seized a pill press and bags with about three to four kilograms of suspected powdered fentanyl.Following the execution of a number of federal warrants Tuesday, 23 people are charged with trafficking counterfeit prescription pills in connection with a North Shore-based drug trafficking organization.

Dozens of gang members were arrested and illegal guns and drugs seized during a four-day operation in Central California, the Tulare County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into the Goshen Massacre, for a cartel-style shooting that left six people dead, including a young mother and her 10-month-old son, on January 16.

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Tom Sizemore made a name for himself as a quintessential Hollywood hardman, after starring in multiple high-octane thrillers.The US actor carved out his niche in the 90s, though he later fell from grace following a string of convictions and substance abuse issues.

Several years after xylazine first began appearing as an additive in illicit street drugs ― and as its use spreads nationwide ― the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it will more closely monitor imports.The agency issued an import alert, which gives it the power to detain raw ingredients or bulk finished product if the shipments are suspected to be in violation of the law.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has signed a law legalizing the sale and distribution of test strips designed to detect whether fentanyl is in an illicit drug.Harm-reduction advocates welcomed the action, saying that it has the potential to help reduce overdoses.The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported that 78% of the 5343 overdose deaths state-wide in 2021 involved fentanyl.

Less than 5% of people whose opioid therapy is managed in a pain management setting test positive for illicit drugs, a new study found.An analysis of urine drug tests (UDTs) from 600,000 pain clinic patients also shows that those who test positive for their prescribed opioids are significantly less likely to test positive for fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines - drugs that are most often implicated in accidental overdose deaths.

The business call began with pleasantries and self-deprecating humor."We're just over here comparing bellies," one man said."Hey, I never lost - I never could get down to under, uh, s-, 182.And now I'm at about 171," said another, adding, "I've been working out.""Don't mess up your knee, though, man, your leg."

SAN FRANCISCO  A 24-year-old man has been charged in federal court with crimes that carry a potential life sentence for allegedly possessing 7.8 pounds of fentanyl and other drugs, court records show.Miguel Ramos was indicted in December on charges of possessing more than 400 grams of fentanyl for distribution, as well as similar charges for methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and heroin.

Bags of drugs Toronto police say they seized last month are pictured here.Police say they are looking for three suspects who are wanted for drug trafficking.(Paul Smith/CBC) Toronto police say they've made history with the seizure last month of hundreds of kilos of crystal meth and cocaine.Deputy Chief Pauline Gray made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday behind two wide tables covered with bags of drugs.

Peel Regional Police say they have seized illegal drugs worth more than $25 million after an 11-month long probe into a Canada-U.S. smuggling ring.Police said they have charged five men, who range in age from 27 to 46, with trafficking in connection with the investigation dubbed "Project Zucaritas," which means sugary cereal in Spanish, a label police allege was on some of the drug packaging.

A member of the family that runs wine brand Sutter Home was arrested on suspicion of three felony gun violations and a misdemeanor drug offense, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.Deputies arrested Carlo Trinchero after finding 11 guns at his home, a violation of his probation following his conviction for assaulting his girlfriend in 2017.

A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was charged Wednesday in the fatal 2021 shooting of a suicidal man.Prosecutors filed one count of assault with a firearm and one count of assault under color of authority against Remin Pineda, 40, in the March 2021 killing of David Ordaz Jr. in East Los Angeles.