Former drug dealer on mission to save lives after record overdoses
18 opioid overdose deaths in Milwaukee County were linked to the same batch of drugs in a four-day span
18 opioid overdose deaths in Milwaukee County were linked to the same batch of drugs in a four-day span
18 opioid overdose deaths in Milwaukee County were linked to the same batch of drugs in a four-day span
Fighting the opioid epidemic is a tall task, but one Milwaukee man is up for the challenge.
"I was part of the problem. That's why I'm out here trying to be part of the solution now," Pancho Mercado said.
Mercado said he once used, abused and sold drugs. It landed him in federal prison.
"Cocaine, marijuana," Mercado said.
But once Mercado served his time, he's now serving others. He created a nonprofit organization called "Team Havoc."
On any given day you can find him walking through neighborhoods, passing out Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal medication and Fentanyl testing strips.
On Thursday, WISN 12 News caught up with Mercado at 25th Street and National Avenue.
"Got Narcan, Naloxone. This is the injectable kind. Ten doses in each. My goal today, yesterday, we gave out 250. So I brought 200 today because I want to beat that goal. And then these are fentanyl testing strips," Mercado said.
Alongside Mercado was Gina Allende who works for UMOS.
The pair teamed up for the same mission. Trying to save lives after a record 18 died from a drug overdose in Milwaukee County since Saturday.
Health officials blamed the recent overdose spike on a "bad batch" of drugs containing a deadly dose of Fentanyl and a new animal sedative called Xylzaine.
"We're out here today And that's why. So we do a lot, but, you know, we need to continue to fight. We need to continue to do more," Allende said.
Allende and Mercado say most people are grateful and appreciative of the free Narcan.
And they're seeing signs of hope.
"We get a lot of report backs about our Narcan, our Narcan, saving lives. So we talk to our clients and they report to us that they've used it, that they've saved lives, and we record all that information," Allende said.
Free Narcan and fentanyl test strips are available at every Milwaukee fire station and at UMOS located at 27th Street and Chase in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office told WISN 12 News Thursday, no new overdose cases had come in related to the "bad batch" of drugs.
