Suspected dealers of deadly “Hollywood” heroin to be arraigned

According to Delaney, police received word that there was going to be a delivery of thousands of bags of heroin stamped with the word “Hollywood” into the city Saturday night. According to the Boston Herald, in early November, a unsafe batch of heroin in Haverhill resulted in five suspected overdoses in just a matter of a few hours.

In Holyoke, at least two of the overdoses were fatal and another death is under investigation for links to the drug.

In New England, the heroin epidemic has crawled into the early days of 2016: In the past week alone, eight people have reportedly died from a lethal strain called “Hollywood” that is now coursing through MA.

Police arrested four people and seized 9,000 bags of heroin over the weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts. Juan Perez is also charged with trafficking heroin, and faces a minimum of 12 years in prison, and was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, there was a 63% increase in opioid-related deaths from 2012 to 2014.

“We wanted to warn them”, Albert said.

Of the eight Hampden County overdoses in Holyoke and Chicopee, three took place on New Year’s Day, said police.

“There are many resources available to those fighting addiction”, he said.