A one-year-old child died this Friday at a day care center in New York, USA, due to a suspected overdose of fentanyl, which was hidden in the nap room under a rug.
Three more children were hospitalized after being exposed to the drug, according to the BBC. Police believe the children, ages eight months to two years, inhaled fentanyl at the daycare.
A search of the daycare center revealed that one kilogram of fentanyl was found “under a rug where the children used to sleep,” NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenney said. Investigators also found three presses containing kilograms of drugs.
The daycare owner, 36-year-old Gray Mendez, and the man, 41-year-old Carlisto Acevedo-Brito, were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and murder.
“We allege that the defendants poisoned four babies and killed one of them because they were involved in drug trafficking,” Damien Williams, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said Tuesday.
Police also said the drugs found at the daycare could have killed 500,000 people.