Detroit Man Charged in Lethal Heroin Case

A man suspected as a key player in the supply of a lethal form of heroin blamed for more than 100 deaths in the Detroit area was arraigned Saturday on drug possession and weapons charges, officials said.

Wayne County sheriff's deputies and federal drug agents said Daren Reese was arrested Thursday in the sale of a mix of heroin and the prescription painkiller fentanyl.

Reese, 45, of Detroit, faces charges including four counts of delivering and manufacturing a controlled substance, and two felony weapons charges for carrying a firearm and body armor. He was being held in the Wayne County Jail on $200,000 bond.

Paul Curtis, a lawyer representing Reese, told the Detroit Free Press after the hearing his client was a scapegoat for authorities trying to show they are combating the fentanyl scourge.

Fentanyl is 80 times stronger than morphine. Officials in cities from Chicago to Philadelphia have reported deaths from the combination, more than 200 in all.