WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — West Palm Beach's special police task force called GHOST, which has been operating since 2020, recently busted a fentanyl dealer.
Police say a man, believing he was buying cocaine, actually received fentanyl, resulting in his overdose and consequential death.
Officers went through the man's phone and saw text messages between him and his dealer.
Officers from GHOST (gang-habitual offender suppression team) sent the dealer, who they said is Kevin Gonzalez, their own text messages.
They asked for Gonzalez to supply them another ounce of "the same stuff," and "$500 of the pink drug," which police said Gonzalez agreed to sell.
Court records show when Gonzalez showed up for the deal, GHOST officers greeted him, causing Gonzalez to run.
While running, investigators say Gonzalez ditched a brown paper bag that they later recovered once Gonzalez was under arrest.
In the paper bag, officers found two bags of fentanyl and a bag of "the pink stuff," methamphetamine.
"Fentanyl is very dangerous. I don't know why anybody would sell it," said Jackie Wood, a longtime resident of West Palm Beach. "This is ridiculous."
Wood couldn't believe the Palm Beach County statistics from the medical examiner's office showing the number of accidental overdoses for his area.
Last year, nearly 500 people died from accidental overdoses, and so far this year at least 200 people have died from opioid use.
"I can't even picture that in my mind — too many people," said Wood.
Gonzalez is still in the Palm Beach County Jail and is being held without bond.
He has been charged with first-degree murder in this case for drug distribution.
