Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced the indictment today of a Camden man in connection with a record-setting seizure of 14 kilograms – or 31 pounds – of the super-potent synthetic opioid fentanyl by the New Jersey State Police and ICE Homeland Security Investigations.
The March seizure represents the largest seizure of fentanyl by law enforcement in New Jersey history. Fentanyl is one of the deadliest opioids, with a potency that is 50 times greater than heroin. The 14 kilograms of fentanyl seized could easily have yielded over five million lethal doses of fentanyl, since a dose as small as two to three milligrams can be fatal.
The Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau today obtained a state grand jury indictment charging Yahmire Boardley, 23, of Camden, with second-degree possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and third-degree possession of fentanyl. Boardley was arrested in March in a cooperative investigation by the New Jersey State Police Trafficking South Unit and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cherry Hill Office.
The investigation revealed that packages containing fentanyl were being shipped into the U.S. from China to addresses in Camden. On March 16, multiple search warrants were executed by State Police detectives from the Trafficking South, Hazmat, K-9, Crime Suppression South, and T.E.A.M.S Units, along with federal agents from HSI, U.S. DEA Camden HIDTA Task Force and DEA Camden Resident Office, and officers from the Camden County Police Department. The investigators seized a total of 14 kilograms of fentanyl from multiple locations. They arrested Boardley at his Camden residence.
While it has been spotlighted for killing Prince and other celebrities, fentanyl also is responsible for a growing death toll in New Jersey, where there were 417 overdose deaths from fentanyl in 2015, and 394 overdose deaths from fentanyl and fentanyl analogs in just the first six months of 2016. Fentanyl is commonly mixed with heroin or cocaine for sale on the street, or is sold in powder compounds or counterfeit pills disguised as heroin, oxycodone or Xanax. Given the tiny size of a lethal dose, drug users are dying because dealers are careless about how much fentanyl they put in such mixes and pills.
Fentanyl is so potent that medics and police across the U.S. have been sickened by coming into contact with it while responding to overdoses or making arrests. In this case, the State Police Hazardous Materials Response Unit assisted with the operation to address the concern about collateral exposure.
In addition to fentanyl, seven fentanyl knock-offs have been sold on the street in New Jersey, usually disguised as less-powerful drugs like heroin or oxycodone, triggering overdose deaths. The Attorney General’s Office issued an emergency order last year adding those fentanyl knockoffs to the list of drugs subject to the strictest level of state control.
Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.