Four people arrested for the death of “The Wire” actor Michael K. Williams, one of them in Puerto Rico

Law enforcement agencies in the United States have arrested four people for the overdose death of the actor Michael K Williamsknown for his role in the popular series “The Wire”who passed away last September, authorities announced today.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Three of the defendants were arrested yesterday and appeared in a Manhattan court today Wednesday, while another of them was arrested in Puerto Rico also yesterday and will appear in court there on Thursday.

The police identified the detainees as Irving Cartagena, 39, who would have delivered heroin with fentanyl to Williams, and Héctor Robles (57), Luis Cruz (56) and Carlos Macci (70), who would also have participated in the distribution of the drug.

The text indicates that around September 5, 2021, the defendants sold the actor heroin cut with fentanyl, a drug considered between 50 and 100 times more powerful than morphine, and another substance analogous to fentanyl.

After consuming the drug, Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment on September 6 as a result of an overdose.

Despite knowing that the interpreter had died after buying his product, the four defendants continued to sell it in broad daylight around residential buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

“Today, along with our law enforcement partners from the New York Police Department, we announce the arrest of members of a drug (trafficking) gang, including Irving Cartagena, the man who allegedly sold him the deadly dose of drugs. to Michael K. Williams,” prosecutor Damian Williams said in a statement.

“This is a public health crisis. And it has to stop. Opioids like fentanyl and heroin don’t care who you are or how much you’ve made. They only feed addiction and lead to tragedy,” he added.

Williams, 54, rose to fame as the charismatic thief and drug trafficker Omar Little on “The Wire” (2002-2008), one of the most prestigious series in the history of television in the United States.

Apart from “The Wire”, the interpreter had a remarkable career on the small screen with roles in highly appreciated series such as “Boardwalk Empire” (2010-2014), “The Night Of” (2016) or “When They See Us” (2019). He was also seen in films like “12 Years a Slave” (2013) or in the television movie “Bessie” (2015).

Over the years, the interpreter had spoken publicly about his drug problems on several occasions, including during the period in which he filmed “The Wire”.

In 2016, for example, he recounted in an interview with NPR public radio how he had found help in a New Jersey church at a particularly difficult time when addiction threatened to destroy his career.