A Santa Clarita man was charged with dealing a drug three times more powerful than fentanyl, causing one fatal overdose, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Arraigned on Wednesday, Benjamin Anthony Collins,

The U.S. Department of Justice's Los Angeles office filed charges in California in what could be the nation's first death-resulting criminal case involving protonitazene, a synthetic opioid that prosecutors say is "up to three times more powerful than fentanyl.

The case is believed to be the first criminal prosecution related to a death caused by the synthetic drug protonitazene in the U.S.