FENTANYL USED TO ASSAULT COPS IN HOUSTON

Fentanyl-laced flyers placed on Harris County sheriff’s fleet vehicles in east Houston

By Jay R. Jordan

Houston Chronicle
June 26, 2018

A sergeant with the Harris County Sheriff's Office was hospitalized Tuesday after coming in contact with a fentanyl-laced paper flyer, authorities said.

The flyer was one of several placed on nearly a dozen sheriff's office vehicles at HCSO's recruitment and criminal investigations center at 601 Lockwood Drive in east Houston, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

At least one of the flyers tested positive for fentanyl, a sometimes-deadly opioid. Other flyers, as well as the sergeant herself, are being tested for fentanyl, as well.

So far, authorities have tested one of the 15 to 20 flyers, said Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office. The remaining flyers were sent to Harris County Institute of Forensic Science for analysis, he said.

The sergeant came across the flyer on her windshield Tuesday afternoon as she left work, Gonzalez said. She initially did not think anything of it but soon started to feel light-headed and showed other fentanyl-related symptoms.

She was rushed to the hospital and is expected to survive as authorities investigate the flyers' origination. She was released around 4:30 p.m., authorities said.

"She caught it quickly," Gonzalez said. "We do know from our experience with fentanyl is that it can be very deadly. It's 100 times more potent than morphine."

The flyers could have been placed on the vehicles as early as 8 a.m. Tuesday, Gonzalez said.

"We hope this is an isolated incident," Gonzalez said.

The flyers promoted the organization Targeted Individuals, an organization which believes that the "Deep State" targets certain individuals.

The group believes the FBI and CIA purposefully inflict mental, physical and emotional stress on enemies of the "Deep State," in part, by shooting microwave technology at their heads in order to cause brain damage, according to the group's website.

The organization could not be reached for comment.

Authorities with HCSO are asking anyone who sees the flyers to maintain caution and contact authorities.