Whatcom prosecutor warns fentanyl is in the area after more fake pill drug arrests
Two people were arrested Tuesday evening, May 19, allegedly in possession of a more than 40 counterfeit Oxycodone pills, prompting the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s office to issue a warning via Facebook that fentanyl is in the area.
“This week we have three new fentanyl cases in our office, all stemming from counterfeit Percocet and Oxycodone. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, similar to morphine, but (50 to 100) times more potent,” the prosecuting attorney office’s Facebook post read. “As little as 0.25 milligrams can be lethal to humans. It is profitable for drug dealers to make and sell counterfeit Percocet pills by adding fentanyl into the mix. The mixing is not done with accuracy, meaning that the amount of fentanyl is different in each pill making the pills exceptionally dangerous.
“Fentanyl is now being distributed within our community at an alarming rate.”
Friday, May 15, the sheriff’s office announced that it had arrested a woman on suspicion of controlled substance homicide after she allegedly sold fake pills with fentanyl to a Bellingham man who died last November.
And Tuesday, May 19, sheriff’s deputies with the Criminal Interdiction Team arrested Navjot Singh, 24, and Maggie Elizabeth Rimmer, 22. Singh was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm and was released Wednesday, May 20, on $25,000 bail, according to jail records. Rimmer was booked on possession of a controlled substance and a controlled substance violation and released on personal recognizance.
Beyond those three criminal cases, the post said that the Whatcom County Health Department told Prosecuting Attorney Eric Richey that there were three overdoses last week believed to be related to counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl.
“It’s more dangerous than ever to take medication without a prescription with fentanyl in our community,” the post read.
The Criminal Interdiction Team stopped a car Singh and Rimmer were in at 7:33 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of West Bakerview Road and Eliza Avenue because it had probable cause for Singh’s arrest, including four counts of delivery of a controlled substance, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents.
Those counts came as a result of the Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force conducting four controlled purchases of suspected fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills from Singh during the first five months of 2020, documents state.
During a Feb. 5 traffic stop for a loud muffler, a sheriff’s office K-9 also signaled the scent of possible narcotics in a car Singh and Rimmer were in, and the car was impounded, documents state. Investigators later found drug paraphernalia, four grams of methamphetamine, one gram of an unidentifiable white substance and a loaded Jennings Firearms Inc. J-22 handgun, which was illegal for Singh to possess due to his criminal history.
After Singh was taken into custody during Tuesday’s stop, Rimmer exited the car holding a black handbag and deputies found drug paraphernalia where she’d been seated and in her handbag, where they also found one blue pill labeled “M30,” documents state.
Though Blue “M30” pills are supposed to be 30 mg of Oxycodone Hydrochloride, court documents said they are commonly counterfeit pills made with fentanyl.
While Rimmer was in the back of the patrol car, the deputy noticed she was sweating and asked if she was hiding any drugs, documents state. She admitted that she was.
Once at the jail, a female corrections deputy found a baggie with seven M30 pills in her bra and a racquetball-sized bag containing at least 35 more M30 pills inside her body, court documents state.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
