Fentanyl Pipeline Disrupted By Arrest In Dutchess County: Task Force

RED HOOK, NY — A man was accused in Dutchess County of selling fentanyl after a months-long investigation into the sale of the illegal drug.

The Dutchess County Drug Task Force said Shawn W. Phillips, 40, was arrested in Red Hook and charged Friday with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.

Phillips was arraigned in the Town of Hyde Park Justice Court and was sent to the Dutchess County Jail without bail.

He is believed to be to have been responsible for distributing fentanyl that was found in counterfeit oxycodone, the task force said.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. According to the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 107,622 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, with 66 percent of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like Fentanyl.

In 2021, the Dutchess County Drug Task Force recorded more than 100 fatal drug overdose deaths within Dutchess County, with fentanyl being involved in an overwhelming amount of cases.

Phillips’s arrest is thought by task force members to have disrupted a pipeline of fentanyl being brought into Dutchess County.

The Dutchess County Drug Task Force was assisted by the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau and K-9 Unit.

Anyone who may know information about this case or others selling drugs in Dutchess County should call the task force’s tip line at 845-463-6040 or email.