Six Florida teens likely drugged at Air Force Cadet Ball

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Apr 15, 2022

Six Florida teenagers overdosed at an Air Force ball on Thursday and required hospitalization after drinking what some students described as fortified drinks, according to reports.

Students – all members of the high school JROTC Cadet Programs — swallowed drinks containing an unknown drug before suddenly vomiting, according to reports.

“They laced the drinks or put something in the drinks,” one student said, according to Local 10 News.

Another told the station: “The water at one of our tables had drugs in it. People started putting drugs in there. We don’t know exactly who or how many people did it, but for the kids who drank it – the kids in the Northeast who drank the water – they got high and everything.

The Broward County School District said it is investigating the incident with police.

“The Northeast District and High School Administration is concerned and is closely following the Davie Police investigation into what caused the illness of six students on Thursday night while attending the school ball. Air Force JROTC at Signature Grand in Davie,” the district said in a statement.

The students are all members of Florida High School’s JROTC cadet programs.

WPLG

The police intervene on the scene. — Two of the victims remain hospitalized, but all are expected to survive.

A policeman at the scene. — One of the party attendees said he and others were unsure who might have made the drinks.

One attendee reminded Local 10 that people suddenly started throwing up at one point during the party.

“One moment we were dancing in the ballroom, then the next moment, about an hour later, the kids started throwing up,” one attendee told Local 10.

“Then other kids felt nauseous and stuff like that. I think a girl almost had a seizure.

The victims, who are all from Coral Gables High School and Northeast High School, are all expected to survive. Two remain hospitalized.

A teenager is interviewed on television. — A teenager said the so-called laced drinks were water.

Six West Point cadets overdosed after snorting cocaine containing fentanyl during a spring break party at an Airbnb in Fort Lauderdale last month. The victims went into immediate cardiac arrest but eventually recovered.

Axel Casseus, 21, was arrested in connection with the incident and beaten with drugs.

Fentanyl contributed to about 75,000 drug overdoses in the United States during a 12-month period ending last April, a 29% increase from the previous 12 months, according to the CDC.