Minnesota authorities investigating Prince’s death are requesting assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Police found prescription painkillers in Prince’s possession following his sudden death in Minneapolis on April 21, NBC News reported.
Officials have yet to say what role, if any, those drugs may have played.
Photo Instagram
Last week’s autopsy discounted suicide – but a medical examiner said full results could take several weeks.
Prince Nelson Rogers, 57, was found dead in a lift on his Paisley Park estate.
Sheriff Jim Olson said there was no sign of trauma on Prince’s body, suggesting the singer had died alone.
The DEA will be working to “determine such things as where the medications came from, and what prescriptions Prince had obtained,” NBC reported.
There have been suggestions Prince was addicted to the painkiller Percocet, which he had been taking since 2009 to relieve hip pain.
The singers former percussionist, Sheila E, told the news agency Prince had suffered the effects of years of jumping off speakers on stage while wearing high heels.
However, claims of drug dependency have been refuted by Prince’s long-time lawyer, L Londell McMillan.
Although he admitted that Prince may have taken pills to manage pain, the lawyer said the musician was “not on any drugs that would be any cause for concern”.
Michele Marie Leonhart, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will resign following allegations that agents attended parties funded by cartels.
Michele Leonhart’s retirement was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder.
The move follows a justice department report last month alleging that drug agents attended parties with prostitutes, some funded by local drug cartels, in a foreign country.
The DEA said the incidents had happened in Colombia.
Correspondents say Michele Leonhart, who has run the agency since 2007, had been under pressure to resign since testifying to a congressional committee last week.
Following her appearance, a majority of the committee said they had lost confidence in her.
“Michele has led this distinguished agency with honor, and I have been proud to call her my partner in the work of safeguarding our national security and protecting our citizens from crime, exploitation and abuse,” Eric Holder said.
Eric Holder added that Michele Leonhart would leave the agency in mid-May.
According to the justice department report, the sex parties were held at government-leased quarters where the phones and laptops of agents were present.
It said that DEA investigators at the time had not reported the allegations because they “did not believe that the special agents’ conduct rose to the level of a security risk requiring a referral”.
The report said that several agents were also provided with money, expensive gifts and weapons.
One DEA official told investigators: “Prostitution is considered part of the local culture and is tolerated in certain areas called <<tolerance zones>>.”
Seven agents who admitted attending parties were given suspensions ranging from two to 10 days. One was cleared of wrongdoing.
The investigation had been instigated by Congress following reports from 2012 that Secret Service agents had hired prostitutes while protecting the president during a summit in Colombia.
Daniel Chong, a university student in the city of San Diego, has received $4.1 million from the US government after he was abandoned for more than four days in a prison cell, his lawyer said.
Daniel Chong, now 25, said he drank his urine to stay alive, tried to carve a message to his mother on his arm and hallucinated.
He was held in a drug raid in 2012, but told he would not be charged. Nobody returned to his cell for four days.
The justice department’s inspector is now investigating what happened.
Daniel Chong said he slid a shoelace under the door and screamed to get attention before five or six people found him covered in his faeces in the cell at the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) San Diego headquarters.
After Daniel Chong was rescued, he spent five days in hospital recovering from dehydration, kidney failure, cramps and a perforated oesophagus. He also lost 15 lb (7 kg).
Daniel Chong was one of nine people detained in the raid in April 2012. Authorities determined that they would not pursue charges after questioning him.
One of Daniel Chong’s lawyers said a police officer then put him in the holding cell and told him: “We’ll come get you in a minute.”
Daniel Chong said he thought he was forgotten by mistake.
Daniel Chong has received $4.1 million from the US government after he was abandoned for more than four days in a prison cell
“It sounded like it was an accident – a really, really bad, horrible accident,” he said.
The 5-by-10-foot cell had no windows and Daniel Chong had no food or water while he was trapped inside for four-and-a-half days.
Daniel Chong said he started hallucinating on the third day.
He urinated on a metal bench so he could have something to drink. He also unsuccessfully tried to set off a fire sprinkler to draw attention of the DEA authorities.
“I didn’t just sit there quietly. I was kicking the door yelling,” he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
“I even put some shoestrings, shoelaces through the crack of the door for visual signs. I didn’t stay still, no, I was screaming.”
At one point, Daniel Chong admitted, he thought he was going to die. He broke his eyeglasses by biting into them and tried to carve a “Sorry Mom” farewell message. He managed to finish an “S”.
DEA spokeswoman Allison Price confirmed that the $4.1 million settlement had been reached, without providing further details, according to the AP.
The incident prompted the head of the DEA to issue a public apology last May, saying he was “deeply troubled” by the incident.
Daniel Chong’s lawyer said that as a result of the incident the DEA had introduced new policies for detention, including checking cells daily and installing cameras inside them.
Daniel Chong, now an economics student at the University of California, says he plans to buy his parents a house.
[youtube JIRAbZWrSTM]
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
