Police in New York discover drugs in a trapdoor at a fentanyl nursery

 Police in New York discover drugs in a trapdoor at a fentanyl nursery

At a New York City daycare where a boy died from exposure to the opioid, police discovered a "large quantity" of fentanyl, other drugs, and paraphernalia buried under a trapdoor.

More than a dozen small bags filled with brown and white powders can be seen in photos published by the New York City Police Department.

According to the police, an investigation is ongoing.

At the creche last Friday, a one-year-old passed away from what was likely a drug overdose.

Nicholas Dominici had just been a week at the Divino Nio creche. According to authorities, fentanyl was kept under a rug in the nap room where he napped.

After being exposed to the potent drug at the Bronx centre, three further kids were hospitalised.

The presence of the substance was confirmed by an examination of urine from one of the victims.

Prosecutors claim that the proprietor of the nursery, Grei Mendez, 36, and her tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, are each facing federal counts of drug possession with intent to distribute that results in death and conspiracy.

According to Manhattan US Attorney Damien Williams, "we allege those accused poisoned four babies and killed one of them while they were operating a drug operation out of a nursery."

The fourth wave of the US fentanyl crisis is felt everywhere.

A grand jury had earlier on Thursday officially charged both Ms. Mendez and Mr. Brito.

Authorities have classified both individuals as flight risks, and they are both being held without bail. If found guilty, they would each be sentenced to life in jail.

The amount of drugs found, according to the police, could have killed 500,000 people. Three presses allegedly used to package kilogrammes of cocaine were also reportedly found by investigators.

Ms. Mendez's attorney claimed that his client disputed the allegations and had no idea that Mr. Brito, her husband's cousin, was keeping drugs in the nursery.

It is unknown if Mr. Brito is represented by counsel.

After discovering the children were sick, Ms. Mendez made repeated calls to her husband before dialling 911, according to surveillance footage and phone records. When her husband came, he took five full shopping bags out of the nursery, according to the authorities.

Prosecutors claim that Ms. Mendez deleted almost 20,000 text messages from her phone before to being apprehended. Later, they could be found by the authorities.

Authorities are still looking for her husband, who has been named as a co-conspirator in court records. After the incident, he was seen on camera leaving the site, according to the police.

An increase in drug-related fatalities in the US has been attributed to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.

In 2010, fewer than 40,000 opioid overdose deaths occurred nationwide, and less than 10% of those deaths were related to fentanyl.

By 2021, fentanyl was thought to be responsible for 66% of the drug overdose deaths involving more than 100,000 people each year.