Delco Man Arrested For Selling Deadly Batch Of Fentanly-Laced Heroin: District Attorney

A Delaware County man was arrested recently and charged with selling a deadly, fentanyl-laced batch of heroin that killed a Secane man in October, the Delaware County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.

James Kiree Collins, 26, of Sharon Hill, has been charged with felony drug delivery resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, and the manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to
manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, court records show.

Collins was remanded to the George W. Hill Correctional Facility after being arraigned Jan. 19, the DA's office said.

Collins faces up to 20 to 40 years for the drug delivery charge, according to the DA's office. Collins will appear before Magisterial District Judge Nicholas Lippincott on Feb.2 for his preliminary hearing, court records show.

"These dangerous opioids including heroin and now more recently fentanyl are destroying families and taking lives at an unprecedented rate in Delaware County and across Pennsylvania," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said. "Our narcotics task force is continually working to attack the source of these deadly drugs and aggressively prosecute drug dealers."

The DA's office said on Oct. 2 police responded to a Secane address where the found a 28-year-old male dead in a bathroom, as well as wax paper with "BIG" stamped on it along with an apple.

Authorities identified Collins as a suspect and set up a drug deal with Collins on Oct. 3 where he sold police drugs in the same packaging found at the crime scene, the DA's office said.

The DA's office said the drugs were examined by Pennsylvania State Police, who determined them to contain an opioid analgesic that is roughly 50 to 100 times the strength of morphine.

Just a few days later, Collins met again with undercover police and told them he met the deceased on Oct. 1 and sold him four bags of heroin, the DA's office said.

Security footage at the restaurant Collins said he met the victim showed both men in the business on Oct. 1, the DA's office said.

"In this case, due to the excellent investigative work of Det. Sean Brydges of the Narcotics Task Force and the Ridley Township Police Department, we were able to trace this deadly drug to the dealer, James Kiree Collins, and stop him from causing more harm and potentially more overdose deaths," Whelan said.

Image via Delaware County District Attorney's Office