Detectives investigating drug trafficking in California busted an elementary school teacher Friday for allegedly dealing heroin.
The Napa Special Investigations Bureau began investigating 36-year-old Delicia Gomez earlier this month after reports she was dealing heroin in the community. Authorities executed a search warrant at Gomez’s home Aug. 10, discovering methadone and a stolen identification card, but did not arrest her at the time, reports Napa Valley Register.
Detectives continued their investigation and secured a warrant from the Napa County District Attorney’s Office Friday to arrest Gomez on charges of suspicion of possession of a controlled substance for sale. Over the course of their investigation authorities discovered Gomez had affiliations with two teaching facilities in the area.
“Detectives also determined Gomez was an elementary school teacher at a private religious school in Vallejo, and a past tutor at a local Napa learning center,” Gary Pitkin of the Napa Special Investigation Bureau said Friday, according to Napa Valley Patch. “Both learning institutions Gomez is affiliated with were advised of her arrest.”
The incident serves as a reminder of the pervasiveness of the current opioid epidemic gripping the nation.
A special education teacher in Oregon was arrested March 14 for possession of meth and heroin, which she brought onto school property. School officials spotted the teacher, 33-year-old Brynne Marie Fletcher, acting suspiciously in the parking lot and called police. Officers searched Fletcher’s car and found the stash of narcotics.
An elementary school teacher in Oklahoma was arrested in May after she was found stealing her class’ field trip money, school iPads and computers to feed a heroin addiction. When police busted Megan Sloan, a second grade teacher, they found nearly 40 syringes, heroin, methamphetamine and spoons in her purse. Many of the syringes contained heroin and had exposed needles.
Drug overdoses are now the number one cause of accidental death for Americans under 50. The New York Times recently culled through data from state health departments and county medical examiners and coroners, predicting there were between 59,000 and 65,000 drug deaths in 2016.
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