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Corona Man Arrested for Selling Drugs Laced with Fentanyl, DA Says

By Katie Honan | May 12, 2017 5:41pm | Updated on May 15, 2017 9:01am

CORONA — A 66-year-old man was arrested for selling drugs laced with Fentanyl, a deadly substance law enforcement officials blame for the uptick in fatal drug overdoses across the city.

Hubert Harris, who lives on 102nd Street, was arrested on Thursday after he was arrested with nearly 100 envelopes of a deadly drug mixture, the DA said.

Narcotics officers pulled him over as he rode his bike near 41st Road and 12th Street in Long Island City on May 9 — finding 98 white glassine envelopes which they believe contains a mixture of Fentanyl and heroin, according to the DA.

Fentanyl is a synthetic drug that can be 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin.

Officials believe Harris is linked to sales of the drug that have contributed to 65 non-fatal overdoses since the beginning of 2017, selling dangerous mixtures of Fentanyl, cocaine and Tramadol, which is another opioid.

“The lives of most of those individuals were saved only after receiving Naloxone, a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses,” District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Since January, 67 people died from drug overdoses in Queens — surpassing the number of people killed in murders and car crashes across the borough, according to Brown.

Harris was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on May 11 on charges that include criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal sale of a controlled substance and resisting arrest, according to the DA.

He faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.