HEROIN OVERDOSE CASES CONTINUE TO RISE IN VINELAND

VINELAND -- The number of heroin overdoses in the city continued to
spike Wednesday, with police reporting two more incidents where users
were found unconscious and rushed to the emergency room.

The incidents on Tuesday brought the number of overdoses in the city
during the past week to 10, according to Vineland police reports. In
almost every instance, the user was found passed out with either a
syringe or small bag containing a white powdery substance nearby.
None of the 10 has died.

Law-enforcement officials said they believe that fentanyl, an
extremely strong pain reliever used to treat cancer patients, may
have made its way into the street supply of heroin in Vineland.

Fentanyl works though the central nervous system and could be
addictive if it's not used for pain, according to Medline Plus, the
National Institutes of Health medication database.

The fentanyl-laced heroin was first seen regionally in Camden, where
it claimed the lives of several people earlier this year. Authorities
said many drug dealers use it to supplement the drug so they can
create more doses to sell.

It's unclear whether fentanyl-laced heroin was involved in either of
the most recent incidents. Calls to Lt. Tom Ulrich at the Vineland
Police Department went unanswered Wednesday.

Vineland resident Robert Maldonado, 25, was found Tuesday passed out
in an unlocked room and covered in ice at the Days Inn on Landis
Avenue, a police report said.

The room was unlocked by a supervisor after an employee said he was
going to use it, according to the report. Moldonado later told police
he and some friends were looking for a place to buy and use drugs and
found the open door.

Police said Maldonado was shaking so violently after being taken to
the South Jersey Regional Medical Center that he couldn't sign his
Miranda rights form.

He was charged with possession and use of heroin, possession of a
syringe and a separate burglary warrant.

Javier Feliciano, 36, was found by his brother, Hector Feliciano,
lying unconscious Tuesday in his Park Town apartment complex bathroom.

Hector Feliciano told police that his brother had track marks on his
arm from injecting heroin, which he took 10 minutes before passing
out. Emergency medical services took Javier Feliciano to the South
Jersey Regional Medical Center, where he told police he used the drug.

Feliciano was charged with using and possessing heroin and a syringe.
He was released pending a court date.