SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — On April 3, the Omaha Police Department (OPD) issued a media advisory warning of the presence of carfentanil in their metro area.
KELOLAND News spoke with Rafael Mattei, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Omaha Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
This is a schedule two drug that was initially made to tranquilize elephants.Rafael Mattei, DEA Special Agent
“Carfentanil is very similar to fentanyl, but it is a hundred times more potent,” said Mattei. “This is a schedule two drug that was initially made to tranquilize elephants.”
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Mattei says that carfentanil, much like other drugs, is coming into the U.S. via traditional smuggling routes, across the southwestern border and then up interstate routes to places such as Omaha.
Though Mattei says that the DEA’s Omaha office has not seen too much of it outside of the recent finds in Omaha, he notes that people should be on the lookout for it.
“We’re still continuously getting in different seizures from our law enforcement officers,” said Lt. Steve Fornoff with the OPD Narcotics Unit, speaking to KELOLAND on Monday. “Recently we’ve located probably, I would say close to 40,000-50,000 pills, and they’re coming back with carfentanil inside of them.”
These pills, said Fornoff, are coming in the form of counterfeit M30 blue pills, a knock-off of the oxycodone M30 tablet.
Counterfeit M30s courtesy of the DEACounterfeit M30s courtesy of the DEA
Both Mattei and Fornoff emphasized that there are very few legitimate prescription drugs on the black market.
“Pretty much what we’re seeing in Omaha is if somebody is getting an M30 pill from somebody other than a pharmacist or their doctor, it’s almost 100% counterfeit every time,” Fornoff said.
“They look exactly the same as the real deal,” said Mattei. “Sometimes even better. The manufacturing is even better than the actual real pill — it looks nicer — so it’s very hard to tell.”
Fornoff says that from what OPD can tell, the drugs found in the Omaha area were destined for Omaha. “Omaha is kind of a hub for narcotics distribution, especially for the Mexican drug cartel because of its proximity to I-80 and I-29,” he said. “It allows for easy distribution to other major cities like Chicago, Denver, Kansas City — there’s a lot of times where the drugs will be stored in Omaha.”
Given that interstate access — Omaha is less than a three-hour drive from Sioux Falls — Fornoff says that people in Sioux Falls and other cities connected to Omaha should be taking increased caution.
KELOLAND reached out to Sioux Falls Police, to ask about concerns regarding carfentanil, and were told by Public Information Officer Sam Clemens that while SFPD has encountered carfentanil in Sioux Falls, they have seen it neither on a regular basis nor in measurable quantities.
“There are certainly concerns because of the potency of the drug, but that could be said of fentanyl or even meth. The narcotics detectives keep tabs on what drugs are coming into the area and work to disrupt the supply chain to try and limit the illicit drugs coming into Sioux Falls,” said Clemens.
In terms of exposure to carfentanil, Fornoff and the OPD note that naloxone/Narcan is effective in treating overdose, but a larger dosage may be needed.
Mattei expanded on this subject.
“The way naloxone works — once you give the person the naloxone, it’s going to interact with that opiate receptor and that person will come out of the high, if you will, but the naloxone only works for 30 minutes,” said Mattei. “They can relapse once that naloxone gets metabolized, then go right back to that overdose.”
Due to this, both Mattei and Fornoff both said that the main priority should be contacting emergency services if someone is experiencing symptoms of overdose.
Fornoff also noted that Nebraska has a Good Samaritan law, meaning that if you are with someone who is overdosing, you will not be arrested if you call 911 to get them medical assistance. South Dakota also has a Good Samaritan law, though it states that a person can only receive this immunity one time.
