Authorities continue to investigate several cases involving fentanyl-related overdoses in Riley County.
On Wednesday, leadership from RCPD, the Kansas Highway Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration gathered at the Riley County Attorney’s Office building to announce four more arrests as part of their ongoing investigation. Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson..
RCPD Director Brian Peete says it highlights the attention the department and its partners are giving to the deadly epidemic.
Charges were read against 59-year-old Ronald Ince and 37-year-old Nathan Reeves, both of Manhattan, suspected in an August 2021 fentanyl-related overdose death. A third person charged in that incident remains at large.
Others charged in connection to non-fatal overdoses include 21-year-old Daron Jones and 21-year-old Caziah Self, the latter of whom was arrested this week after police alleged he was in possession of approximately 2,800 Oxycodone pills.
As for where the drugs are coming from, Chad Whiteman is an Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the DEA’s Kansas City District Office. He says the drugs are flooding into Kansas from Mexico, 100 percent manufactured there, with chemicals supplied in China. Whiteman explains how the DEA is able to track distributors back to the cartel.
Investigations have been ongoing for several months, with RCPD Lt. Tim Schuck saying they’ve wanted to come forward with information, but didn’t want to compromise the potential for these cases to be prosecuted.
Director Peete also offered a message to those who are using or distributing fentanyl in the community.
Full charges from RCPD are listed below.
Ronald Ince, 59, of Manhattan was arrested for distribution of a controlled substance causing death, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, and use of a communication facility for a drug transaction. Ince remains confined in the Riley County Jail with a total bond of $500,000.
Nathan Reeves, 37, of Manhattan was arrested for distribution of a controlled substance causing death, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, and use of a communication facility for a drug transaction. Reeves remains confined in the Riley County Jail with a total bond of $500,000. Reeves’s and Ince’s arrests stem from an investigation into the death of a 36-year-old woman in August 2021.
Caziah Self, 21, of Manhattan was arrested for distribution of a controlled substance causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery, and use of a communication facility for a drug transaction stemming from an investigation into the overdose of a 31-year-old man in August of 2022. Self was issued a total bond of $250,000 for this charge. He was also arrested on two Manhattan Municipal Court warrants for failure to appear and theft. Self was also found to be in possession of two guns and a large number of pills suspected to contain fentanyl at the time of his arrest adding additional charges of drug possession with the intent to distribute, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon. These additional charges hold a bond of $500,000. Self remains confined in the Riley County Jail with a total bond of $751,750.
Daron Jones, 21, of Manhattan was arrested for two counts each of distribution of a controlled substance causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery, and use of a communication facility for a drug transaction stemming from an investigation into two separate overdoses of the same 21-year-old man in August and October of 2022. Jones remains confined in the Riley County Jail with a total bond of $250,000.
