Chattanooga hospitals have treated a significant increase in non-fatal drug overdoses this week, according to an alert from the Hamilton County Health Department. Health Department officials said the overdoses are due to suspected fentanyl, opioids or other illicit drugs being used in the area, calling the wave of overdoses a public health threat that should be taken seriously. Read the …

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Deadly drugs are flooding East Tennessee from out of state, and it’s not going unnoticed by district attorneys. They shared their plan to crack down on the dangerous drug pipeline, and it’s already lead to dozens of arrests. “This is officially a hostile market for those of you who want to pedal your drugs in our …

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)- Drug trafficking has become a significant issue here in East Tennessee and authorities say that many of these crimes can be traced back to groups in Detroit, Michigan. Law enforcement agencies have been trying to get a grip on the issue for years. Several East Tennessee District Attorneys on Thursday launched a new joint plan called the …

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized 7 million lethal doses of fentanyl in Tennessee. “It’s a tragic and unfortunate number,” said DEA special agent Jeffrey Scott. “On the one hand, it speaks to the work that we’re doing. On the other hand, it speaks to the amount of fentanyl that’s actually washed across the …

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — East Tennessee has a new tool to combat the overdose crisis. Metro Drug Coalition is handing out fentanyl test strips to those who ask for them. “A lot of people have a misconception about people who use drugs. There are people who do not intentionally want to use fentanyl,” said Jessica Stanley, a regional overdose prevention specialist. “It’s important …

A recent report from the bipartisan, nonprofit organization USAFacts shows fentanyl overdose deaths in the Unites States in 2021 were 26 times higher than they were a decade prior.  According to the report, 87.8 percent of all opioid overdose deaths in 2021 were attributed to fentanyl, with West Virginia seeing the highest death-rates in the country. Tennessee and Kentucky were not …

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness issued an alert on Friday, warning that counterfeit prescription drugs tainted with fentanyl are flooding Louisville’s drug supply and are offering ways you can help protect yourself and others. People today can get drugs almost anywhere: online, from friends, and on the streets. Because fentanyl is so strong, an overdose …

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said they arrested around 15% more people for drug crimes compared to last year. KCSO said they have seen a similar trends. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said so far this year, they have arrested around 15% more people for drug crimes. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office said they have seen a …

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Jeremy Crumbley, also known as “Memphis,” 30, of Memphis, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today to distribution of fentanyl. According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 25, 2018, Crumbley sold over 9 grams of fentanyl for $1,150 to a confidential informant in a Kanawha City alley in Charleston. Co-defendant Kaleb Wuopio, 27, of Detroit, Michigan, …

BENTON COUNTY, Tenn.–The Benton County Sheriff’s Office reports a deputy found a bag of fentanyl at a local school. The school is not identified at this time but the dispatch report cites the Holladay/Sugar Tree area. According to the report, a deputy on the school property conducting a morning walk-through discovered a bag on the ground where buses drop off …