A “large-scale fentanyl dealer” connected to two Connecticut overdose deaths has been arrested on trafficking charges after he was found carrying nearly a pound of the opiate, authorities said.
Daqwon Graham, 30 — known by the names “Seagull” and “Energy” — could face from five to 40 years behind bars, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut said in a media release. He was picked up in Stamford on Thursday after investigators made “multiple controlled purchases” of the drug from him, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and Stamford Police Department describe Graham as a “large-scale fentanyl distributor in and around Fairfield County,” prosecutors said. When apprehended, he allegedly had 400 grams of fentanyl.
“Investigators also connected Graham’s drug trafficking activities to an overdose death of a male victim in Branford in March 2023, and an overdose death of a female victim in Shelton in October 2024,” the office of Acting United States Attorney Marc Silverman said.
While the number of overdose deaths fell by 16% in Connecticut from 2023-24, marking the third consecutive straight year of decline, the problem still remains rampant, state health officials said in January, the Stamford Advocate reported.
Graham was charged with possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and with use of a communications device to facilitate a drug trafficking felony. The latter charge carries a maximum term of four years in prison, the attorney’s office said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Vatti ordered Graham be held after his federal court appearance in Bridgeport.
