NEW YORK (AP) – Four people were taken into custody on drug charges after police investigating the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman executed search warrants at several New York City apartments, two people with knowledge of the investigation said today.
A confidential source provided a tip that the suspects may have supplied Hoffman drugs, according to the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because investigators have not obtained evidence to corroborate the reported connection.
Police say undisclosed quantities of heroin and marijuana were found last night in the three apartments in a lower Manhattan building. The four suspects – three of whom live in the building – face charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance. Two also face charges of criminal use of drug paraphernalia.
Hoffman was found dead Sunday in his Greenwich Village apartment with a syringe in his arm.
The NYPD’s intensive effort to determine the source of the drugs in an apparent accidental overdose is unusual. Courts have found that under state law drug dealers cannot be held liable for a customer’s death.
Yesterday, a police official said heroin recovered at the Oscar-winning actor’s apartment after he was found dead had tested negative for the powerful additive fentanyl.
Samples taken from Hoffman’s apartment didn’t contain the potent synthetic morphine, which is added to intensify the high and has been linked to 22 suspected overdose deaths in western Pennsylvania, said the official, who wasn’t authorised to talk about the evidence and insisted on anonymity.
Investigators also determined that the Capote star made six bank machine transactions for a total of $1 200 inside a supermarket near his home the day before his death, law enforcement officials said. They’ve been piecing together his final hours using video surveillance to determine his whereabouts.
