At least a half-dozen people have been charged by authorities in and around Pittsburgh with possessing heroin that is stamped with street names linked to drugs that investigators believe have caused 22 fatal overdoses in recent weeks.
After police had announced five previous arrests, on Thursday Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced similar charges against 39-year-old Tywon Laniel Newby of Clairton. Newby is being held at the Allegheny County Jail, unable to post $250,000 bond. No attorney was listed on court papers.
The Allegheny County medical examiner's office and other authorities have said heroin bags stamped with those names have also tested positive for fentanyl, a synthetic morphine substitute that can be up to 100 times stronger than heroin, and is being blamed for the deaths.
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