5 West Point Cadets Overdose On Fentanyl On Florida Trip: Police

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — A 21-year-old man was arrested in connection with the fentanyl overdoses of five West Point cadets while they were on a spring break trip in Fort Lauderdale, according to police.

Authorities obtained the phone number of the man who investigators say supplied the cadets and others with the fentanyl-laced powder. Police arrested Axel Giovany Casseus on Friday evening after he sold them 43 grams of cocaine, according to the arrest report.

Casseus also is facing a charge of burglary of an occupied dwelling from an incident in 2020 and was arrested again in April 2021 after authorities say he violated his pretrial release conditions by carrying a concealed weapon and driving with an expired license, according to court documents.

A defense motion for pretrial release was again granted in June 2021, court documents show.

The overdose incident occurred Thursday at a vacation rental at 811 Northwest 29th Court in Wilton Manors, and a Fort Lauderdale hazmat team discovered a substance laced with fentanyl, police said.

Wilton Manors police said seven total people — six men and a woman — were affected by a fentanyl-laced power. The West Point Public Affairs spokesperson confirmed to Patch that five of the victims were cadets, four of whom were taken to a hospital. The woman was later hospitalized, according to police.

"The U.S. Military Academy is aware of the situation involving West Point cadets, which occurred Thursday night in Wilton Manors, Florida," the spokesperson told Patch in an email. "The incident is currently under investigation and no other details are available at this time."

This story is being updated.