FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man faced a judge days after, police said, he supplied drugs to a group of West Point cadets visiting for spring break that sent seven of them to the hospital.
Twenty-one-year-old Axel Giovany Casseus appeared in bond court Saturday morning, a day after he was arrested.
Investigators said he sold cocaine laced with fentanyl to the spring breakers in Wilton Manors, and on Thursday, that left them fighting for their lives.
“I saw four people getting pulled out on stretchers, their arms were just flopping. They were totally unconscious,” said neighbor Cub Larkin.
A police officer told the court that the suspect sold undercover detectives $1,000 worth of drugs and also confessed to selling the students the cocaine cocktails.
The cadets were staying at an Airbnb along Northwest 29th Court and Ninth Avenue.
Area residents said the visitors’ presence did not go unnoticed.
“We’ve been hearing, for the last couple of days, loud music, gatherings,” said Larkin.
Dana Fumosa lives next door to the rental house.
“It was guys and girls over there. They seemed to be having a good time. They were barbecuing, they were in the pool,” he said.
At some point, first responders said, some of the students began inhaling the drugs and immediately overdosed.
Concerned friends performed mouth-to-mouth CPR, exposing themselves to the dangerous drug.
Some of the students are allegedly on the West Point football team.
Officials with West Point said they are aware of the overdoses and conducting their own investigation.
Rescue crew transported seven people to the hospital. As of Saturday night, two were listed in critical condition.
Casseus is being held at the Broward County Jail on $50,000 bond.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.