Police Find 20 Pounds of Fentanyl in Apartment After Firefighters kick Door in

Submitted by HoldenGambles t3_y7e6yz in WorcesterMA

Firefighters putting out a fire at the Clement Street apartment complex kicked in a door to make sure no one is in the building. They find a pill press and white baggies and call the police.

Police show up and arrest the guy and then get a search warrant. That's when they found the 20 pounds. Any lawyers in here to explain the legality of this?
Story for reference:
https://dailyvoice.com/massachusetts/worcester/police-fire/worcester-police-find-20-pounds-of-fentanyl-in-apartment-after-firefighters-kick-in-door-cops/846684/

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ThrillDr1 t1_isu063p wrote

The firefighters were looking for people still in a burning building.

Entered apt and viewed what they did.

After fire was under control they called to report what was viewed.

Police arrest for suspicion of drug making equipment.

Search warrant finds 20 pounds of drugs.

Sounds legit.

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munchieman21 t1_isu09ln wrote

Maybe don’t have 20 pounds of fentanyl in your possession if you don’t want to get arrested for it regardless of the circumstances?

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outb0undflight t1_isu3cz0 wrote

Replying to ThrillDr1 (#134,750)

Yeah, I'm all for calling out police for overreaching their authority but this doesn't seem like this is a case of that. WFD discovered a crime in the process of fighting a fire, appropriately responded to the fire, and then reported the crime afterward. Hard to make WPD the bad guys in this situation.

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tollboothbill t1_isudxw0 wrote

20 pounds. JFC. Put that person under close watch. How do you get 20 pounds of a powder? The connections youd have to have are top level.

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CoolAbdul t1_isupsk9 wrote

I have 20 pounds of braunschweiger in my apartment.

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FirstOrderRouge t1_isv1369 wrote

You should be worried about the fucking legality of a drug operation like that lmao. They’re the ones ruining this city.

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7evenPoint128 t1_isv20u8 wrote

Its very legal. State and fed agencies can cross-report things under various codes. In this case, its more than justified as the firefighters came across drugs and weapons giving cause to a possible drug lab and various unknowns. With fire and safety an issue, a warrant can be issued on the spot to clear any possible explosives or chemical hazards. On top of that, all fires are crime scenes, which changes how privacy and warrants work.

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New-Vegetable-1274 t1_isv2x2i wrote

How's your math, they say 3 milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill the average person. Fentanyl can be deadly if airborne in high concentrations in confined spaces. If the fire hadn't occurred and that 20 lbs was some how released in his apartment it would have killed everyone in the building. There needs to be legislation that would make fentanyl possession a serious enough crime to carry a many decades in prison sentence without parole.

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TheSublimeGoose t1_isvwpz2 wrote

Replying to AchillesDev (#138,179)

While you’re correct regarding the hysteria surrounding airborne/skin-contact fentanyl, you’re wildly incorrect about the dosages.

Funny that you mention the LD50 of mice, but not of monkeys, which is as low as 0.03mg/kg (IM/IV).

You’re talking about micrograms (mcg). Your wife didn’t receive more than 3mg. She’d very likely be dead or at least have been quite sick.

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AchillesDev t1_isw0thi wrote

Replying to TheSublimeGoose (#138,886)

>Funny that you mention the LD50 of mice, but not of monkeys

That was all I could find for a quick search.

>You’re talking about micrograms (mcg). Your wife didn’t receive more than 3mg

You're right. Misread on my part.

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TheSublimeGoose t1_iswquri wrote

Replying to AchillesDev (#139,112)

No worries

Also, fentanyl can most certainly be deadly when airborne. You’d have to walk into a fresh cloud of it, but it’s possible if a large bag of it ripped open, something like that. Something that you’re unlikely to encounter, obviously.

The reports regarding first responders have largely (like 99%) been hysteria manifesting itself as physical symptoms (fainting, dizziness, etc) but there have been a few cases of FRs being legitimately exposed.

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literal_goblins t1_isxr9oi wrote

No shot there’s a legality issue here. It’s standard practice for firefighters to ensure a building that’s on fire is empty. Also, it’s fent. No one, especially firefighters who see overdose victims everyday, is going to look the other way.

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godemers t1_isycb3w wrote

Replying to FirstOrderRouge (#137,003)

“Any lawyers want to explain the legality of this”? That made me laugh.

Well, I’m not a lawyer, but the prosecution would destroy any motions to dismiss the case on the grounds of a fourth amendment violations. The firefighters had a duty to make sure nobody else was in that building that could be harmed. They could’ve just overlooked the fact there was enough fentanyl in that apartment to kill thousands of people - and not call police, but a firefighter is most likely not going to keep their mouths shut given they save lives daily. Kind of counterproductive.

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sunshinepills t1_isz78ql wrote

Like, acab all day but it's hard to say that there is misconduct here. Firefighters did their job, and it's not like it was something like weed that they found, which would turn this into a different conversation.

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