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,

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.