The Rutland police officers and a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent who came to investigate Mr. Blanchard’s death sensed a rare opportunity. With a new body and the overdose not yet public, they wanted to find the source of the fatal heroin while evidence was fresh and undisturbed.
The trail led investigators to the onetime owner of a Manhattan wine bar with a secret life importing heroin; a Bronx man who perfected a potent mix of ingredients to create Flow; and a murderous drug crew that hawked it on New York’s streets and branched out to Rutland after finding it could charge more there.
And for one New York prosecutor, the investigation led to a place both surprising and familiar. Flow was ravaging not just the Bronx neighborhood the prosecutor was trying to make safer — it had become a plague in the Vermont city where she had been born.
An absolute masterpiece of reporting and storytelling by @BenWeiserNYT
— Stacey Stowe (@staceystowe) July 10, 2025
How a Single Overdose Unraveled an Empire of Heroin https://t.co/Y2f6rHU8Fp via @NYTimes