San Diego nonprofit educates Spanish-speaking families about dangers of fentanyl

"The problem with this is everybody calls it an overdose, and it’s not an overdose," said Dr. Beatriz Villarreal, the director of the nonprofit Mano a Mano Foundation. "It’s poison. You’ve been poisoned by fentanyl — because the kids who are dying from this, they don’t know they’re taking fentanyl." Villareal has been working to help educate Spanish-speaking families about the dangers of the drug. She said many people in Spanish-speaking communities had reduced access to information, making them and their children more vulnerable to a drug that is flooding San Diego County. "That’s why it’s so important right now to educate the community about this because even marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth, it already comes with fentanyl," Villareal said. "You know, the cartels in Mexico, they're mixing fentanyl that comes from China. They're cloning pills. If you see the original pills and the copies, you can't even tell the difference. ... And they don’t know they’re buying their death basically because one pill can kill you."

She is partnering with local law enforcement, including San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, and holding a rare all-Spanish-language event at Bonita Valley Community Church on Friday at 6:30 p.m. that will include resources for anyone struggling with addiction.

Villarreal said there would even be powerful a firsthand account from a man named Jaime Puerta, who lost his 16-year-old-son to the drug.

Randy Grossman, the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of California said the statistics were staggering and the majority of seizures by Customs and Border Protection are happening at our border. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, from October through June of this year alone, they seized over 8,400 pounds of fentanyl, over 5,000 pounds of that in San Diego and Imperial Counties. "Their seizures nationwide of fentanyl, 60 percent of those seizures occurred right at our district and that means San Diego and Imperial County are becoming an epicenter for fentanyl trafficking in the United States," said Grossman. But he said the worst part is knowing that is just a fraction of what is out there and the damage that causes. "The other statistics that are equally as impressive and deeply concerning are not just seizures but the deaths in San Diego County alone as we indicated over  800 deaths attributed to fentanyl overdose in the year 2021."

Grossman said law enforcement was aggressively prosecuting fentanyl cases and, because of that focus over the past five years, prosecutions have increased 1,600%. But he admits it will take a lot more than focusing on prosecutions to stop this epidemic. "We’ve also significantly prioritized our resources on community outreach and prevention efforts and education efforts to try to stop the death toll." Grossman said everyone must be all-in to fight it.  

Villarreal said education would save lives and events such as Friday's, providing information and resources completely in Spanish for communities often overlooked, was a good first step. "Every time that we have something like this in Spanish it opens the door for more education, for more support and for telling officials that we're here and we need to do more of this in Spanish and that's why I'm very thankful to the district attorney's office."

She extended an invitation in Spanish, saying the information provided Friday could save lives. "Vengan a la conferencia a aprender lo que es el fentanilo, lo que esta matando a nuestros jóvenes de ahora, y esta información les puede salvar la vida a su hijo, a su sobrino, a su nieto, a su hermano, a su esposo, a toda la gente que usted conoce. Venga, venga — es gratis."

("Come to the conference to learn about fentanyl, which is killing our youth. This information can save the life of your son, your nephew, your grandson, your brother, your husband, all the people you know. Come, come — it's free.)