Philip Seymour Hoffman Had 50 Bags Of Heroin, Cops Tracing Where He Got Drugs [Updated]
UPDATE 5:05 pm EST: Philip Seymour Hoffman had as many as 65 full bags of heroin in his apartment, as well as five empty bags, police now say, revising their earlier figure, according to an ABC News report. Police also say that Hoffman apparently was not using heroin laced with the painkiller fentanyl, a combination linked to numerous recent deaths, but they have yet to determine if any other additives were contained in the heroin used by the actor.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Philip Seymour Hoffman had 50 bags of heroin in his New York apartment when he was found dead Sunday, police sources are saying. At least one of the bags was marked with the “Ace of Spades” brand, a notorious mark that has been on the streets of New York for several years.
In 2009, federal agents in Long Island, New York, made a seizure of “Ace of Spades” heroin. Some of the other baggies found in the apartment where Philip Seymour Hoffman resided were marked “Ace of Hearts,” another street brand of heroin.
An autopsy on the body of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who most recently appeared in the biggest box-office film of 2013, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, is scheduled to be conducted later on Monday. Early indications point to an overdose of heroin as the cause of the actor’s death. According to initial reports, when his body was discovered, a needle was still stuck in his arm.
Police also found a spoon with charring marks, as if held over a flame, a common way to prepare heroin for injection. Cops found other bags containing white powder and 20 used syringes stored in a plastic cup. Of the 50 baggies containing heroin, some were already empty while some had not yet been consumed.
Early reports say that police are treating his apparent overdose as accidental, not suicide, but where did Philip Seymour Hoffman get the heroin, and could that heroin have been somehow tainted, leading to his death?
Those are questions police are now trying to answer, and the autopsy results could provide clues as well. In addition to heroin, a wide variety of prescription drugs were also found at the Philip Seymour Hoffman death scene.
Federal agents only last week made an $8 million heroin seizure in the New York City borough of The Bronx.
“Heroin is pummeling the Northeast, leaving addiction, overdoses and fear in its wake,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Agent James Hunt at the time, quoted in The New York Daily News.
A string of recent deaths has been linked to heroin laced with the powerful painkiller fentanyl. Police are hoping tests on the heroin found in Hoffman’s apartment as well as autopsy results on the deceased actor will determine whether his death is linked to the other recent deaths.
Nassau County on Long Island just Thursday issued a “contaminated heroin alert” in hopes of stopping more deaths from the tainted drug.
The star of The Master, Doubt and Capote — the latter earning him a Best Actor Oscar — was last seen alive around 8 pm Saturday evening.
Detectives are now trying to obtain surveillance video from a bank near where Philip Seymour Hoffman lived. A witness has told police that he saw a man fitting Hoffman’s description near the bank handing over cash and receiving what appeared to be drugs, possibly heroin, from two men, each wearing a messenger bag.
The witness told cops that the man he believed to be Hoffman was “sweaty” and “looked like s***.”
On Saturday morning, Philip Seymour Hoffman reportedly was seen at a grocery store in the neighborhood. He appeared “gray,” witnesses said, and he purchased tissue paper and a soft drink.
Police Monday questioned the manager of that store, attempting to find surveillance video that might help them retrace the steps of Philip Seymour Hoffman of the final day of his life.
