By Sam Kmack and Joseph Ostapiuk (source)

Law enforcement and advocates in Suffolk County  sounded the alarm Saturday after a "bad batch" of crack cocaine laced with fentanyl killed three men and left one woman in critical condition.

The four victims were found in Coram on Friday, police said. At a news briefing at the department's Yaphank headquarters on Saturday, officials described the deceased as a 39-year-old man, a 24-year-old man and a 58-year-old man. No age was given for the woman.

Two people have been arrested, and police said they found 20 grams of powdered fentanyl and a gun when executing warrants at two Coram properties. That quantity of fentanyl is equivalent to roughly 10,000 fatal doses, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Police did not identify the two people arrested and did not say whether they had been charged with any crimes.

"We feel that there is a connection between the two individuals under arrest and the overdose deaths, but that’s still under investigation," said Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, who confirmed both suspects "are known to police."

Catalina expressed concern that there could be further victims, since, he said, "There is a possibility that there is still some of that dangerous substance out there."

"We want everybody to use extra precautions," the commissioner said. "If you know somebody who uses narcotics, please let them know that they could potentially be in danger if they ingest anything that’s out there on the streets right now."

'Public health issue'

Addiction experts on Long Island commended the response by Suffolk County authorities in the wake of the deaths.

Steve Chassman, executive director at the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, said he received a call at 9:30 p.m. on Friday from Suffolk Police to coordinate with nonprofits to "get the word out that there's a lethal batch of drugs going around."

He said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine made the deaths “a public health issue,” rather than an isolated incident.

“Twenty years ago, we probably wouldn’t have seen that response from police and from government officials,” said Chassman. “Not only did they value these souls, but they value all the other souls living in Suffolk County and across Long Island.”

The Suffolk police Medical Crisis Action Team, or MedCAT, whose members are trained in advanced life support, have been deployed in the impacted community along with other resources, police said on Friday.

Fentanyl concerns

Suffolk police said they believed the four victims did not realize they were smoking crack cocaine laced with a heavy dose of fentanyl. 

"The people who ingested these drugs were not opioid users. They were crack cocaine users," Catalina said at Saturday's news conference. "Their tolerance for this was not what somebody who had an opioid addiction would be. So, it makes it even more dangerous for them."

Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Family & Children’s Association in Garden City, said that despite a nationwide drop in overdose deaths, the Coram deaths show “there’s not a lot to celebrate.”

Drug dealers are in “an arms race” to “sell the highest potency products they can for the least amount of money,” Reynolds said, with fentanyl commonly used to bolster the strength of non-opioid drugs.

Reynolds said the latest fatalities underscore the need to educate users on the proliferation of fentanyl and get those individuals into treatment, while leaning on life-saving measures like Narcan and drug test strips.

“Some folks are ready to look at treatment and potentially stop their use, but there are other folks that are just not in that place,” Reynolds said. “A big focus for us has been ensuring that we keep those people safe and healthy and alive long enough to darken the door of a treatment facility."

Detectives with the Homicide Section and the Narcotics Section are investigating both the source of the drugs and the deaths they have caused, Suffolk police said.

"Anyone who has information on that, you can call Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS," Catalina said.

Newsday's Nicholas Grasso contributed to this story.