L.I. OD busts
4 charged with selling heroin leading to death
FOUR LONG ISLANDERS face charges they sold potentially deadly fentanyl-laced heroin that led to a fatal overdose.
Randall Robinson, 31, and Lilliana Vasquez were caught Monday in Copaigue with three grams of heroin in their car, officials said. Vasquez’s 21-monthold child was in a car seat in the back of the 2003 Mercedes-Benz when they were stopped, officials said.
Robinson and Vasquez are accused of selling three people, ages 20 to 25, the fentanyl-laced heroin. One of those people died of an overdose on May 30 and two others survived their overdoses. Two other suspects, Robert Evanson, 30, and Kevin Forrester, 29, were found with 22 grams of fentanyl worth $25,000 to $35,000 and arrested Tuesday in Copiague on drug charges.
The arrests follow an investigation into the non-fatal overdose of a person by the Long Island Heroin Task Force.
Evanson and Forrester also had heroin in their 2015 Nissan Altima when they were arrested, officials said.
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said the county is in the midst of a public health and criminal justice crisis due to opioid abuse.
Last month, the Daily News shined a spotlight on the drug epidemic gripping the city — and the nation — with “Opioid Nation,” an in-depth series on the crisis.
The four were arraigned Wednesday in Hempstead and charged with drug possession and sale.
Robinson and Vasquez were also charged with endangering the welfare of a minor.
“This drug has the potential to cause an overdose on contact and that’s why the public needs to be aware,” County Executive Edward Mangano said.
“If they come across this in a loved one’s circumstances . . .(they) should not touch this substance. Again, (fentanyl) can cause an overdose on contact.”
Mangano noted that fentanyl is used to treat the pain of latestage cancer and as a pain reliever for elephants.
“This is not something to be played around (with) in basements or other areas,” Mangano said.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure that the people who deal this poison to our children are kept off the streets,” she said.