Bellingham teen's overdose proves fentanyl pill is deadly even in small doses

SEATTLE — Federal investigators say a 17-year-old Bellingham boy knew that counterfeit painkillers he bought from a drug dealer last month were likely tainted with fentanyl, so he rationed them — using only small parts of a pill at a time to avoid overdosing.

He died anyway, and now two Mount Vernon residents have been charged in connection with the pills.

According to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, the teen's sister found him unresponsive on Nov. 9, and efforts by emergency responders to revive him failed. Messages on his phone — and an interview with a friend of the victim who had survived an overdose on the pills after being hospitalized a few days earlier — helped lead Whatcom County sheriff's detectives and Drug Enforcement Administration agents to Lopez-Rodriguez, the complaint said.

The messages between the teen and his supplier suggest that he alerted her after his friend's overdose to warn that the pills might be tainted, calling them a 'kill pill', DEA agent Christopher Vandenbos wrote in the complaint.

“Getting these tainted pills off the street are a top priority for law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran said in a written statement. “It is heartbreaking to meet with the families of these overdose victims who lost their children to fentanyl. We will hold those spreading these poisons accountable.”

Possession of narcotics with intent to distribute carries up to 20 years in prison.