Overdoses may be linked to tainted heroin in Duluth

Two drug overdoses — one in Cloquet and one in Carlton — on Monday, March 2, may be linked to a spate of seven overdoses in Duluth.

The patients in the two Carlton County cases were a 20-year-old man from Superior and a 53-year-old woman from Cloquet. Both were transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment.

As members of the Lake Superior Gang and Violent Crimes Task Force, Cloquet interim police chief Derek Randall said the CPD was notified of an alleged batch of heroin containing fentanyl that the task force believes is connected to the overdoses.

“We are currently working with the task force and Carlton County and the Fond du Lac Police Department on the investigation, and to attempt to determine if the drugs are from the same source as the drugs responsible for the overdoses in Duluth,” Randall said in an email to the Pine Knot News Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Brandon Jamar Steward, 27, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was charged with felony second-degree sale of heroin (three grams or more) in Sixth District St. Louis County Court, Duluth. His bail was set at $75,000.