Retired FBI agents and panelists will meet for a panel discussion on the recent drug problems plaguing Prince William County.
The panel discussion will take place Thursday, June 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Grace Baptist Church, 14242 Spriggs Road in Woodbridge. The event is organized by Gina Ciarcia for Congress, whose seeking the Republican nomination in a June 21 Primary Election for the 7th District House of Representatives seat.
Mike Van Meter, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and former instructor at FBI National Academy, will be the lead panelist. He taught a course on addiction entitled “Leading At-Risk Employees,” which focused on understanding alcoholism and prescription drug abuse, PTSD, suicide, and domestic violence.
Van Meter has over 30 years of military, police, corrections, and FBI experience. He is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Addiction Counseling: Integrated Recovery for Co-Occurring Disorders at the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies.
Other panelists include those involved in creating public policy and those who have personally experienced the devastating effects of opioid addiction.
The event comes after two teenagers in Prince William County died of drug overdoses within 24 hours. According to Prince William police, both deaths occurred in April and appeared to be connected to counterfeit forms of Percocet, sometimes referred to as “Perc30.” The fake drugs in both recent incidents were preliminarily tested and confirmed as being laced with fentanyl.
On May 4, Prince William police reported the seizure of more than 5,000 counterfeit fentanyl-laced Percocet pills. Police said it was unclear if the pills seized were connected to the teen deaths.
DRUG SEIZURE: #PWCPD & @DEAWashingtonDC TF recently seized several firearms and over 5,000 suspected counterfeit fentanyl-laced Percocet pills known to be distributed in the area. This is part of law enforcement's ongoing joint effort to combat the opioid epidemic in the country. pic.twitter.com/Nq1Hz48Asy
— Prince William County Police Department (@PWCPolice) May 4, 2022
