Overview

• Federal prosecutors have announced charges against 13 additional people in connection to a cross-country fentanyl ring, bringing the total number of defendants to 26.
• The drug ring, which originated in Mexico and operated through California, is linked to the overdose death of a young mother in D.C. two years ago.
• The drugs were smuggled into California and then transported to D.C. via planes or mail, disguised as legally manufactured oxycodone.
• Officials have seized over a quarter-million pills and 30 firearms in the operation, and 23 of the 26 defendants are currently in custody.
• The investigation into the drug ring began after the death of 20-year-old Diamond Lynch, who purchased a pill she believed to be Percocet but was actually fentanyl.