By By SUZANNE CARLSON Daily News Staff

Copyright virginislandsdailynews

V.I. Police warned the public about the dangers of using fentanyl and hallucinogenic mushrooms in a video statement posted to social media Tuesday.

“Community, many times you have heard things like, ‘those things don’t happen here in the Virgin Islands, those things happen on the mainland.’ Well, recently, as your Virgin Islands Police Department continues to serve and protect this community, we have realized the presence of a Schedule 1 drug in the name of mushroom. Street name, ‘magic mushroom, ‘mushroom,’ or ‘shroom,’” said Police Chief Uston Cornelius.

Cornelius said police have also “noticed the presence” of fentanyl, “a potent synthetic opioid drug. And the street name, it has many street names. We’re going to start with ‘Apache,’ ‘Chinatown,’ ‘Dance Fever,’ ‘Friend,’ ‘Goodfella,’ ‘Good He,’ ‘He Man,’ ‘Jackpot,’ ‘King Ivory,’ ‘Murder 8,’ and ‘Tango and Cash,’” Cornelius said.

“One is injected, that’s mushroom, and the other is ingested, that’s fentanyl,” Cornelius said.

It appears Cornelius confused the two drugs, and there are many ways to consume both. Mushrooms are typically ingested whole or in a tea or capsules, while fentanyl is a synthetic narcotic that can be injected, smoked, or consumed in a pill. Prescription fentanyl can also be administered via a skin patch or in “lollipops.”

“The biggest reason for being here is we’re trying to make sure we don’t have a death count,” said Deputy Police Chief Naomi Joseph, who spoke alongside Cornelius in Tuesday’s video.

“About two years ago, we had six people that died as a result of fentanyl use,” Joseph said.

That is twice the number of fentanyl-related deaths previously reported to the public.

V.I. Police spokesman Glen Dratte did not respond to questions from The Daily News on Tuesday, including how many total fentanyl overdose deaths have been confirmed to date, but said Joseph would be available to provide more information today.

In January 2024, V.I. Police confirmed that there were three fentanyl overdose deaths in the territory in 2023, after Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. mentioned the deaths during his State of the Territory Address.

Prior to the governor’s speech, police had publicly confirmed only one fentanyl overdose victim in 2023, 42-year-old Jamie Cail of New Hampshire. Police said that tests determined Cail died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on St. John in February 2023.

Following Bryan’s speech, police confirmed that fentanyl was responsible for the death of another woman on St. John, Lily Ledbetter, as well as a man named Dylan Wainwright on St. Croix.

The department did not issue any public health warnings after the first fatal fentanyl overdose occurred on April 28, 2021, when 30-year-old Rachel “Starchild” Atnip was found dead at her home on St. Thomas.

Her death led to a federal criminal investigation that identified a man named Elijah Hakim as the source of fentanyl-laced pills, which he had been importing from Atlanta, Ga. A jury later found 36-year-old Hakim guilty of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

“Here in the Virgin Islands, we have thus far been spared the worst of the opioid epidemic, but the two shipments of fentanyl involved in this case show that we are not immune,” U.S. Attorney Delia Smith said in a press release after Hakim’s sentencing. “Fortunately, the vigilance and dedication of our law enforcement partners led to the interception of these deadly drugs, and we were able to convict those responsible. We will continue to do everything in our power to keep the Virgin Islands safe from this lethal scourge.”

Since then, fentanyl importers have continued trying to smuggle the drug into the territory.

Smith issued another press release in early 2024, announcing that Tahir Donadelle of St. Thomas pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

According to court records, Donadell was sentenced in April 2024 to serve nearly four years behind bars, after flying from Atlanta to St. Thomas in 2022 with 109 grams of fentanyl pills.

People are dying from fentanyl, and mushrooms can “take your mind,” Joseph said in Tuesday’s video.

“I know you Rastaman like to say you want to stay natural and tell me ‘God make it.’ But when you take this trip, you don’t necessarily come back from it. So I’m begging you, those smokers, I would prefer you don’t smoke, but because I live in the real world, if you’re going to smoke that joint, make sure it’s a joint that you wrapped. Make sure you know what’s in there. Because shrooms take you to another place, and you may not come back,” Joseph said.