APTOS >> After two men died from taking counterfeit Xanax pills in Santa Cruz County recent weeks, Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday announced the arrest of a 22-year-old Aptos man who admitted to supplying the drug to one of the victims.

When deputies searched the home of Daniel Meehan on the 700 block of Calabasas Road on Friday, they said they found one-quarter pound of cocaine, four guns, 80 marijuana plants and a butane hash oil lab. Meehan told detectives that he tried to destroy the pills when he found out they were lethal, said sheriff’s Lt. Kelly Kent.

“He burned the medication and then tried to dump them onto White Road” not far from the house, said Kent. “Deputies scoured the area and were able to locate 10 of the lethal pills.”

Meehan was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing and sales of drugs, possession of an illegal assault weapon, marijuana sales and illegal marijuana cultivation, Kent said. Meehan was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on Friday and posted $50,000 bail, said Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell. Charges have not been filed, Rosell said, and he is due in court Nov. 19.

Rosell said he was unsure whether Meehan would be charged in either of the two recent deaths related to the counterfeit Xanax.

Authorities said the drug looks nearly identical to genuine Xanax, which treats anxiety and panic disorders. It actually contained fentanyl, a potent opioid medication that is cheaper to produce, authorities said.

“You have a drug that’s supposed to look like Xanax, which is kind of common out there in the community, and really it’s more dangerous,” Rosell said.

Santa Cruz County Coroner Stephany Fiore said the phony street Xanax has a duller texture and rougher edges than genuine Xanax.

Investigators said it remains unclear who manufactured the lethal fake Xanax, which had been distributed at at least one party and used recreationally in South County in recent weeks.

At a party in Watsonville Oct. 24, a 19-year-old man and another man ingested what they thought was Xanax, Kent said. They became severely ill and were taken to Watsonville Community Hospital, Kent said. The 19-year-old died and the other man recovered.

On Oct. 27, a 29-year-old Aptos man consumed what he thought was Xanax and was found dead in his home the next day, sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Clark has said. A toxicology test showed that the man took a lethal dose of fentanyl, Kent said.

During Friday’s raid, Ryan Peterson of Aptos was found at the Calabasas Road home because she was trying to confront Meehan about her friend’s death due to a fake Xanax pill, Peterson said.

Peterson, 29, had two and one-half of the Xanax pills in her purse and was ticketed for drug possession and released, Kent said. Kent said Peterson had no connection to the distribution of the fake Xanax pills.

Another man at the home, 23-year-old Ryan Heinrichs of Watsonville, was arrested on suspicion of possession of brass knuckles, Kent said. Heinrichs was jailed and posted $5,000 bail, Kent said.

Editor’s note: Additional information has been added to this story to clarify why Ryan Peterson was at the home on Calabasas Road.