Three New Yorkers killed by fentanyl-laced cocaine ordered from delivery service

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Three people in New York City died last year after ordering cocaine from a delivery service with the substance being revealed to have included fentanyl.

Ross Mtangi, a 40-year-old Credit Suisse Group AG trading executive, was found dead in March 2021 at a hotel a day after checking in.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP lawyer Julia Ghahramani, 26, used the same drug delivery service on the same day as Mr Mtangi. She died in the East Village after using the drug.

Amanda Scher, 38, a social worker, died in her Greenwich Village apartment after using the service.

Fentanyl, a legal opioid prescribed to people with severe pain, had been mixed into the cocaine delivered by the service, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Drug traffickers have discovered that it’s easy and cheap to manufacture and the drug has appeared in heroin and in pills made to appear as other substances, such as oxycodone or Adderall, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Some dealers have mixed fentanyl with other substances with the aim of making street drugs more potent, despite the fact that even small amounts of the powerful opiate can be fatal.

“Hey try not to do too much because it’s really strong,” a text to Ms Scher from the delivery service said.

Ms Ghahramani had seven missed calls from the same number, according to The Journal.

Her father, Sassan Ghahramani, told the paper that “Julia was a driven professional with everything to live for. Never in a billion years would she have touched anything with fentanyl”.

“This is like putting bullets in people’s brains,” he added.

Ms Ghahramani texted a number that prosecutors say belongs to Billy Ortega, who is alleged to be the dispatcher of the drugs.

Mr Ortega’s lawyer has said he’s a stay-at-home father in rural New Jersey while the prosecutors argue that he was managing drug deals from the residence.

He has pleaded not guilty to causing the deaths and sending the drugs. His trial has not yet taken place.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Ortega requested that courier Kaylen Rainey deliver the drugs to the clients. Mr Ortega sent him Ms Ghahramani’s address and ask that he collect $200, prosecutors alleged, pointing to texts on their phones.

Prosecutors have also said that Mr Rainey lived in an apartment registered under Mr Ortega’s family, The Journal reported.

Mr Rainey, who is also awaiting trial, has pleaded not guilty to causing the fatalities and delivering the drugs.

“She made a mistake,” Mr Ghahramani told The Journal. “She had a hit of coke and unbeknownst to her it was loaded with fentanyl and it killed her.”

New York City health department data show that out of 980 deaths related to cocaine use in 2020, 81 per cent included fentanyl, an indication of how deadly the drug can be.

Ms Scher was found dead by her dog walker, with prosecutors arguing that the missed calls and messages sent to Ms Scher and Ms Ghahramani after the delivery of the drugs shows guilt and that something could have been wrong with the drugs.

Mr Mtangi was found dead in his hotel room by his sister and her partner after his boss called her to say he was unable to reach him.

Mr Mtangi’s wife was pregnant at the time, with their son being born three weeks after his death.

The Independent has reached out to attorneys for Mr Ortega and Mr Rainey for comment.