Mother, former police officer who lost daughter to fentanyl says 'our children are being poisoned'
Former Chicago police officer fighting for stricter punishment for drug dealers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A former Chicago police officer is pushing to criminalize fentanyl-related poisonings as a homicide after she lost her daughter to the lethal drug in 2015.
Terry Almanza joined "Fox & Friends First" Monday to discuss her efforts to fight for justice and stricter punishments for dealers responsible for distributing fentanyl.
"In 2015, I lost my daughter Sydney, tragically to an unlawful delivery of MDMA, which resulted in her death. And unfortunately, the Chicago Police Department refused to investigate her case criminally," said Almanza, urging people to classify the deaths as poisonings, not overdoses.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I knew what took place was criminal, and I fought tirelessly to ensure that the persons responsible for unlawfully delivering her a lethal dose of ecstasy were brought up on charges and eventually convicted in 2018 of her homicide."
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Troopers learned the fentanyl pills were being smuggled from Mexico to the Phoenix area. (Arizona Department of Public Safety )
Following the tragic loss of her daughter Sydney, Almanza founded the organization "Drug-Induced Homicide Foundation," where she received calls from parents and spouses who lost their loved ones to fentanyl without an investigation or criminal charges being pursued against those responsible.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"After my daughter's dealers were charged, they were released out on bond in Cook County, and they both went out and did it again, and they both sold a lethal dose of MDMA and LSD to an undercover officer," said Almanza.
"So advocating for justice in these cases is not going to bring back our children. But if it saves the life of another, that's why we fight. We fight to honor our children and just to save lives."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fentanyl, a powerful opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin, was responsible for 71,238 of the record 107,000 fatal drug overdoses in the United States last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fentanyl is brought across the southern border primarily by two drug trafficking organizations — the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to authorities.
Fox News' Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Garrett Tenney contributed to this report