Sacramento County DA Issues Fentanyl Warning in Video as He Campaigns for Congress
Ho's official video — free of overt campaign slogans but aimed at a broad audience — resembles the kind of franking-style reach typically available to elected federal officeholders.
Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho released a public service message this week sharply warning drug dealers that distributing fentanyl could lead to prosecution and potential murder charges, part of a broader effort to confront a spike in synthetic opioid deaths that have devastated local communities.
In the video titled "A Message to the Peddlers of Poison," (see below) Ho delivers a direct warning to those trafficking deadly drugs that law enforcement and prosecutors will pursue accountability for overdose deaths tied to fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid increasingly found in counterfeit pills and other street drugs.
"This is a message to the peddlers of poison: if you continue to bring these drugs into our communities and people die, we will hold you responsible," Ho states in the video, turning his office's platform toward public safety outreach amid rising overdose fatalities.
The video was published on the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office YouTube channel and frames the fentanyl crisis as a public health and criminal justice emergency, without direct reference to the 2026 elections.
Ho's message builds on a sustained campaign by his office to respond aggressively to the fentanyl epidemic. Sacramento County has seen hundreds of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in recent years, prompting Ho to establish what he calls a fentanyl "rapid response team" that treats fatal overdoses with the same investigative rigor as homicide scenes, efforts designed to trace drugs back to suppliers and pursue charges accordingly.
While the video itself does not mention electoral politics, its release comes as Ho campaigns for the June 2026 Democratic primary in California's 6th Congressional District, where he faces fellow Democrat former state Sen. Dr. Richard Pan. Ho's official video — free of overt campaign slogans but aimed at a broad audience — resembles the kind of franking-style reach typically available to elected federal officeholders.
Ho, elected Sacramento County District Attorney in 2022 after a long career as a prosecutor that included leading the Golden State Killer case, has emphasized public safety and community outreach throughout his two-year tenure.
