{"id":464076,"date":"2026-09-15T03:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464076\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T03:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:54:15","slug":"san-francisco-cops-arrest-4-suspected-cychlorphine-dealers-after-teens-fatal-overdose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464076\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco cops arrest 4 suspected cychlorphine dealers after teen\u2019s fatal overdose"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco cops on Friday busted four suspected dope pushers accused of peddling a horrifying new super drug<\/a> blamed for the tragic overdose of a beloved teenager.<\/p>\n

Police Chief Derrick Lew on Monday said officers arrested the \u201cdealers\u201d in connection with the death of Dante Lacourte, 16, a local student who in April overdosed on a powerful synthetic opioid<\/a>\u00a0known as cychlorphine<\/a> that\u2019s gripped the city in fear.<\/p>\n

Infamous for its extreme potency and unpredictable presence in the illicit drug market<\/a>, cychlorphine just recently surfaced in the city and was present in a counterfeit pill taken by Dante, police said.<\/p>\n

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Dante and his mom Christina Lacourte. Instagram\/artfusesf<\/p>\n

The teen was killed by new drugs that are ravaging San Francisco. David G. McIntyre<\/p>\n

Lew said the SFPD will continue following leads\u00a0uncovered through the investigation and follow up\u00a0on any potential arrests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur investigators will stop at nothing to ensure deadly narcotics are taken off our streets and individuals who peddle them are arrested and held accountable,\u201d\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n

Dante\u2019s heartbroken mother, Christina Lacourte, told The New York Times she found him dead in his room after she went to wake him up for school. \u201cIt just takes one pill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lacourte found Dante dead when she went to wake him up for school. Christine Lacourt<\/p>\n

Cychlorphine and isotonitazene were present in a pill taken by Dante. ABC 7<\/p>\n

San Francisco police linked the four suspects to Dante\u2019s death by chasing leads spotted in the boy\u2019s room on the day he was found dead. Cops first identified the deadly pills, and then searched the boy\u2019s phone, zeroing in the dealers believed to be the source of the drugs.<\/p>\n

Undercover cops then called the alleged pushers, buying pills laced with the deadly substance to build out thier case. <\/p>\n

And then police pounced last week, raiding three San Francisco homes where they found 20,000 pills suspected of containing the drug.<\/p>\n

Cops also found 68.5 grams of MDMA, 6.5 grams of black tar heroin, a semi-automatic assault rifle, a semi-automatic pistol and $2,267 in cash.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Cops found firearms and more than 20,000 pills at the homes of suspected dealers. SFPD<\/p>\n

Homeless in the Tenderloin can be spotted hunched over from the effects of the drugs. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The first two arrests came last Tuesday, when busted 46-year-old\u00a0Nicholas Wallace on Sept.\u00a08\u00a0at his O\u2019Farrell Street home, seizing 34 pills believed to be oxycodone, as well as a quality of cocaine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parolee Sharonee Hyson, 44, was also collared in the raid after cops caught him holding 11.7 grams of cocaine base and a loaded gun.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next day cops raided the San Francisco homes of\u00a0Leander\u00a0Pitts, 46, and Starr Lamare, 39, finding more than 20,000 pills, including counterfeit\u00a0Xanax, oxycodone, hydrocodone, cyclobenzaprine\u00a0and other deadly narcotics, including fentanyl.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has vowed to tackle the crisis. Getty Images<\/p>\n

All four suspects were booked in San Francisco County Jail for a slew of\u00a0crimes, including possession for sale of narcotics and firearms charges.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Law enforcement officials say cychlorphine, which is roughly ten times stronger than fentanyl, was first identified in the US two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time DEA saw it was in 2024 at one of our labs down in Florida,\u201d Bob Beris, special agent in Charge of the DEA San Francisco Field Division told ABC. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Cash and heroin were also seized by police. SFPD<\/p>\n

Berris warned that cychlorphine is not confined to pills alone and can be hidden across multiple street drugs, making detection and avoidance especially difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be mixed into a pill. It can be sold as a powder. It can be mixed in with cocaine. It can be sold as cocaine. Again, just because we haven\u2019t seen some of these examples yet doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not out there,\u201d Beris said.<\/p>\n

Public health experts say current drug-checking tools may not detect the presence of cychlorphine. It resists overdose reversal drugs like Narcan, requiring multiple doses to be effective.<\/p>\n

A number of powerful synthetic opioids are threatening California cities. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Also present in the pill taken by Dante was a new drug that\u2019s twenty times more potent than deadly fentanyl \u2013 and turning the city\u2019s addicts into zombies<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The killer counterfeit opioid\u00a0isotonitazene<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 known on the streets as ISO \u2013 was blended with cychlorphine in the pill taken by Dante, San Francisco Health Department officials said in\u00a0an alert<\/a> issued the month he died.<\/p>\n

ISO is cheap and up to 100 times more powerful than fentanyl \u2013 making for a potential crisis.<\/p>\n

SFPD Chief Derrick Lew said cops will stop at nothing to rid the city of the deadly narcotics. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cEven a single pill can contain a lethal dose,\u201d the officials said in their alert.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0shocking video<\/a>\u00a0posted online showed throngs of stupefied users reeling from the effects of ISO in the city\u2019s notorious Tenderloin district.<\/p>\n

In the video created by Manhattan Institute writer Christopher Rufo, addicts are seen stooping over from the effects of the powerful drug and even lying corpselike on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

Rufo said a dealer told him ISO is becoming more popular on the streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the last ten years, it\u2019s been an arms race for increasing the strength of opioids, from heroin to fentanyl, and now, to ISO,\u201d said Rufo. \u201cIt\u2019s devastating California cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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