Fentanyl

Even as overdose deaths overall have been down this year, county officials say there’s a trend in deaths linked to a dangerous new drug combination on Luzerne County streets.

Luzerne County officials hosted a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss the uptick in the county’s overdose deaths, 12 of which have been connected to cocaine laced with fentanyl in the last three months.

An accused drug dealer was charged Monday with killing a convicted drug dealer in the Lackawanna County Prison three weeks ago. The motive wasn't drugs, police say, but access to newspapers. Eli Calero is charged with beating Michael Jones Jr. to death on Sept. 9.