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 ...

A Santa Clarita man has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge in what is considered the nation’s first criminal case involving a death caused by the synthetic opioid protonitazene.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Los Angeles office filed charges in California in what could be the nation's first death-resulting criminal case involving protonitazene, a synthetic opioid that prosecutors say is "up to three times more powerful than fentanyl.

The case is believed to be the first criminal prosecution related to a death caused by the synthetic drug protonitazene in the U.S.