All over America, families are being broken by fentanyl.
Fifty times more powerful than heroin, this deadly drug is more addictive than anything that’s come before. It’s been in circulation in America for a decade, fuelling an unprecedented addiction crisis.
A ruthless criminal network stretching back to Mexico, China and beyond, is pushing it into schools, clubs and onto the streets to hook people. In the US, more than 70,000 people a year are being killed by this synthetic opioid.
Now, in a terrifying twist, fentanyl is killing school children who are buying pills laced with the drug on social media, and overdosing in their classrooms and in their beds.
We travelled to the city of Kyle in Texas to hear the stories of families whose lives have been ripped apart. Gathered under a tree in a local park, they stood – united by grief – clutching photos of their loved ones. Some had sought painkillers. Others were desperate to sleep. Some were just teenagers experimenting. None wanted to die.
Image: Families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl in Texas are speaking out
‘This is a war’
Jim Fraser: “We lost our daughter, Maile, on 17 February. She took something at home during the night, I guess, before she went to bed. We found her the next morning. She was 19 years old.
“We don’t know exactly what she took. But we know it was laced with fentanyl.
Image: Jim and Veneeta Fraser
“She suffered from anxiety and depression, and was on a couple of medications for that. I guess she just wanted something stronger or different.
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“This is a war. People from another country are attacking and killing our children. It’s got to stop.”
Veneeta Fraser: “Maile was a beautiful child. A bright light to everybody she came in contact with.
“She wasn’t addicted to anything. She couldn’t sleep and needed help – it speaks to the mental health crisis in this country.
“You don’t believe it could happen to you. And here we are. It truly could happen to anybody.”
Image: Brandi Hickman spoke about what happened to her son
‘It started with marijuana’
Brandi Hickman: “Kids are supposed to learn from their mistakes, not die from them.
“Fentanyl doesn’t discriminate whether you’re rich or poor, black or white. It has no boundaries.
“My son, Andron, didn’t want to feel different. So he chose to self-medicate. It started with marijuana, the gateway drug – now fentanyl is being laced in marijuana as well.
“My message is live your life. You don’t want to be represented on the t-shirt that I have to wear of my son. You don’t want your parents to have to experience what we’re going through.”
Stefanie Turner: “The first time Tucker was offered a pill was at a New Year’s Eve party when he was 18 years old. He came home and told us about this pill that he was offered, he thought it was a xanax. We talked to him about not taking prescription medication.
“Little did I know that fentanyl was in the pill and how quickly that can create an addiction. Over the course of nine months, Tucker struggled. When he felt stressed, he would turn to a pill as his way of coping.
“Over the course of nine months, he went to two treatment centres.
“After four months of sobriety and what appeared to be living his best life, in September 2021 he chose to purchase another pill on social media.
“Tucker was found 10 hours later.”
Image: Janet Zarate, Ray Brown and their family
‘Don’t think it can’t be your kid’
Janet Zarate: “Ryan Matthew Garcia Jr. Our “King Ryan”. He will be forever 17.
“He was an outgoing, smart, beautiful, happy, funny boy. He loved his job. He loved school and played football. He was a great athlete.
“Unfortunately, on 11 February, 2022, he took what he thought was a percocet [an opioid pain relief]. It was laced with fentanyl and it forever changed our lives.”
Ray Brown: “Don’t get it twisted and think it can’t be your kid.
“He was normal, happy. He wasn’t depressed. He wasn’t a drug addict. He was just a kid being a kid. And unfortunately he died as a kid being a kid.”
These families, spearheaded by Stefanie who founded the charity Texas United Against Fentanyl shortly after Tucker’s death, all desperately want to raise awareness of the dangers.
Their message was echoed by the Texas school teachers and police officers we met who are working tirelessly to combat this epidemic.
The teachers, some of whom keep the reversal treatment narcan on hand in case a student overdoses at school, are calling for more treatment for mental health in children, a need even more urgent after the isolation many young people faced over the COVID pandemic.
The police leading the drug busts want more resources and better border control. They need help to break the criminal chain that is supplying the drugs.
They all agree that action is needed now more than ever.
“Tucker was a deep thinker,” says Stefanie. “People often say, ‘Well, if he was so smart, why would he choose to use that drug?’ But it’s the drug. It’s so addictive and powerful – it steals lives. That’s what it did to our son.”
Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ has passed and he’s due to sign it into law on Independence Day. Mark Stone and David Blevins discuss how the bill will supercharge his presidency, despite its critics.
They also chat Gaza and Ukraine, as Donald Trump meets with freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and talks to Vladimir Putin.
If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.
13 people have been killed in the US state of Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding, according to local media reports.
Officials have also said more than 20 are missing from a girls’ camp in Texas.
As much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far.
A flood watch issued on Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches (17 centimetres) of rising water.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
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Image: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.