Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister held a press conference Monday to announce two arrests in separate fentanyl overdose death investigations.
“Fentanyl is one of the largest and deadliest threats to our community,” Chronister said.
In November 2025, deputies responded to a 55-year-old woman who was found unresponsive in a parking lot and determined she had died from a fentanyl overdose. Detectives with the Opioid Overdose Squad identified the individual they believe was responsible for selling her the fentanyl and arrested the dealer.
According to Chronister, the investigation found that the dealer had sold the woman fentanyl eight times greater than the amount needed to kill a person before her fatal overdose.
Investigators recently obtained an arrest warrant, and on Aug. 7, the suspect was arrested and charged with homicide in connection with the 55-year-old woman’s death.
In a separate investigation, a 22-year-old died at home on Dec. 30, 2025, after contacting a 25-year-old drug dealer to purchase three oxycodone pills. The victim purchased the pills the day before her death, but investigators determined the pills were counterfeit and contained fentanyl.
Investigators identified the 25-year-old suspect and arrested her. Chronister said when she was arrested, deputies found the suspect with 60 grams of fentanyl pills, totaling 347 pills. That amount of fentanyl could potentially be enough to kill 30,000 unsuspecting people, he said.
Testing of the counterfeit oxycodone pills found fentanyl concentrations 14 times greater than the amount needed to kill a person.
The 25-year-old suspect was arrested Aug. 6 and charged with homicide.
“One pill can kill,” Chronister said.
Chronister warned that counterfeit pills can look nearly identical to legitimate prescription medications. Drug dealers can press fentanyl into pills of virtually any shape, making it difficult for unsuspecting users to know what they are taking.
The recent victim did not know the pills contained fentanyl, Chronister said.
Before concluding the press conference, Chronister thanked lawmakers in Tallahassee for providing law enforcement with the tools needed to hold people accountable for distributing fentanyl that results in overdose deaths.