Santa Clarita man charged for dealing drug 3 times more powerful than fentanyl, 1 fatal overdose

A Santa Clarita man was charged with dealing a drug three times more powerful than fentanyl, causing one fatal overdose, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Arraigned on Wednesday, Benjamin Anthony Collins, 21, was charged with one count of distribution of protonitazene that resulted in what the DOJ says could be the nation’s first death-resulting criminal case involving this narcotic.

The indictment alleges Collins knowingly and intentionally dealt protonitazene to a victim in the early morning hours of April 19, 2024. The DOJ only identified the victim as a 22-year-old man from Stevenson Ranch.

The Los Angeles Times reports that hours before his death, the victim called Collins asking for Percocet pills, and Collins sold him five oxycodone pills for $20 each. 

Also included in the L.A. Times’ report was a recount of text messages between the two before the drug deal that were shown in court documents: “I need real Perc’s tho.... Cuz my boy just died.... I get worried,” texted the victim. 

According to the report, Collins responded by saying, “yeah bro same with my best friend bro. He just died 3 days ago. Off fake pills.” He also then said, “those fake Perc’s get you . . I test all my [expletive] ... negative evry time.”

Soon after the deal, the DOJ says the 22-year-old took the pills in the front seat of his car and quickly died. His mother found him parked outside her home and called 911, officials say.

“In recent years, protonitazene has been sold over the internet and is believed to be several times more powerful than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times stronger than heroin,” the DOJ wrote in a statement released Thursday.

According to the World Health Organization, protonitazene and other “nitazenes” were first synthesized in the late 1950s as “novel opioid alternatives to morphine,” but were soon abandoned and never approved for medical use.

The DOJ says Collins, in addition to giving the victim the pills that ended his life, had planned on also selling him a bulk supply of the same drugs in the future.

Collins was arrested on Monday, Nov. 18, and he pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. He is scheduled for a trial date in January, and meanwhile is being held without bail.

If convicted, Collins would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.