A Santa Clarita man was charged this week in what federal prosecutors say is the nation’s first death from a synthetic opioid three times more potent than fentanyl.
Benjamin Anthony Collins, 21, is being held without bail for allegedly selling pills containing protonitazene to a 22-year-old man residing in Stevenson Ranch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The victim died shortly after taking the pills and was found by her mother outside her home in the front seat of her car.
Collins is charged with distribution of protonitazene resulting in death and, if convicted, faces a minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. He was arrested a month after the victim’s death and investigators found large quantities of other drugs in his vehicle, including ketamine, according to court records.
Collins had a long history of drug trafficking, prosecutors said. “After this incident – and after learning that his pills killed the deceased – Collins continues to sell drugs openly and prolifically and advertises his drug trafficking services on an Instagram live video” , according to court records.
Hours before her death, the victim called Collins asking for Percocet pills — Collins sold her five oxycodone pills for $20 each, investigators said. In text messages leading up to the deal, they discussed recent deaths caused by fake or mixed pills, according to court records:
“But I need real Percs… Because my boy just died… I’m worried,” the victim said in a text message. Collins replied, “Yeah, bro, same with my best friend, bro. He just died 3 days ago. No more fake pills. Collins then said: “Those fake Percs got you. . I test all my [expletive] … negative every time.”
Collins admitted to investigators that he sold drugs for money and knew about the victim’s death.
Protonitazene, believed to be three times more potent than the synthetic opioid fentanyl, has been sold over the Internet in recent years, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Just two months ago, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a notice of intent to add protonitazene and another emerging drug “nitazene” to the Controlled Substances Act as Schedule I narcotics.
Protonitazene “is a ‘nitazene,’ a class of opioids developed in the 1950s to replace morphine, which was so powerful that the FDA refused to approve its use,” according to court documents.
A federal complaint from the Southern District of New York accused two men of distributing fentanyl laced with protonitazene to a confidential source working with law enforcement in April. No deaths were linked to this case.
