WOODLAND HILLS — Four people who allegedly used fentanyl in a Woodland Hills hotel room — including one who went into cardiac arrest — were treated and released, a detective said Thursday, and investigators were working to determine where they obtained the powerful narcotic.
Firefighters and paramedics found the two men and two women at 6:47 a.m. Tuesday at the Extended Stay America hotel at 20205 Ventura Blvd., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. A hazardous materials team was summoned to the scene due to the potential danger of exposure to the drug, authorities said.
Detective Robert Cervantes, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s gang and narcotics division, said it was clear the two men and two women had gone to the hotel room planning to do fentanyl, since they brought Narcan nasal spray, which is used to counteract the effects of opioid overdoses.
The man suffering cardiac arrest had marks on his chest from one of his friends trying to revive him, Cervantes said, adding the man had already received at least one dose of the Narcan before authorities arrived.
“In my opinion, they knew they were going to overdose so they had it at the ready,” he said. “When we were there, we didn’t find any lose powders or anything like that.”
That lack of evidence meant they were unable to test how pure the fentanyl was, hindering the possibility of drug possession charges, he said.
Narcotics investigators were working alongside the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area unit, which is a partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Cervantes said investigators are hoping to use information from the case to build their knowledge of the fentanyl supply chain in the Los Angeles area, and “try to determine who was the dealer.”
