Agencies: Fentanyl present in Yuba-sutter

As the use of fentanyl has risen throughout the United States, the Yuba-sutter area has not been immune to its impact.

“It’s definitely not something to go, ‘It’s not in this area,’ it is,” said Sgt. Michelle Brazil of the Yuba-sutter narcotics and gang task force (NET-5).

Brazil said she does not have hard data to back up the opioid’s presence locally but that NET-5 agents come across the drug when carrying out their normal duties.

Multiple representatives for law enforcement agencies in the area said one of the biggest problems with combating fentanyl use is the difficulty in identifying the drug.

Fentanyl is a fine substance and is typically mixed in with other narcotics such as methamphetamine, cocaine

or heroin, according to Yuba City Police Department Lt. Sam Escheman.

“The best way to describe it is like a few grains of sand mixed in with other drugs,” Escheman said. “Basically, you can’t see it.”

He said fentanyl is also mixed or coated on the outside of a narcotic pill such as Xanax or other painkillers.

“This is where the problem lies for the user,” Escheman said. “They cannot recognize it or they do not realize fentanyl is in the illegal substance they are using, and they overdose. A small amount of fentanyl, uncontrolled could be a deadly amount.”

Brazil said when fentanyl is used in prescribed medications, it is in doses measured in micrograms. When it is added illegally to other drugs, the doses are more typically measured in grams. A user will have no way of knowing how much fentanyl is in the pill they are taking.

Fentanyl is used as a cutting agent by mixing it with a primary ingredient to create a larger amount of a drug. The drug becomes more valuable because a dealer is able to get a higher yield and the product becomes more potent when laced with fentanyl, according to Brazil.

She said fentanyl makes its way to the Yuba-sutter area across the Mexican border into

California sometimes in the form of counterfeit pills.

“There has been a rise in fentanyl in Yuba County as it is being found in counterfeit pills being marketed as prescription medication and increasingly showing up mixed with heroin and methamphetamine,”

Yuba County Sheriff ’s Office spokesperson Leslie Williams said.

She said fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. The higher potency means even a 2-milligram dose can be fatal.

“Fentanyl has recently become a problem in the Yuba County area as there has been an uptick in fentanyl-related overdoses, seizures of counterfeited

prescription pills containing fentanyl, and street drugs mixed with fentanyl,” Williams said.

Escheman said fentanyl is a new issue locally and that YCPD doesn’t deal with fentanyl as much as NET-5.

“As simple as this might sound, the best way for people to protect themselves, don’t use illegal drugs and/ or buy medication that is not prescribed to you,” Escheman said. “Fentanyl is only accessed through illegal means outside of the medical profession.”

Marysville Police Department Lt. Adam Barber said the department has not seen a large influx of fentanyl possession since it became widely distributed in the United States.

Brazil said fentanyl is usually

found in a powder form or in a pill. She said inhaling even a small amount of fentanyl could cause dangerous effects within a couple of minutes. People should avoid touching any bags containing powdery substances and refrain from taking or touching pills they find or are unsure of.

While NET-5 isn’t specifically targeting fentanyl use in its normal duties in the area, agents are being trained on how to safely handle narcotics to avoid inadvertently being exposed to the powerful substance.

People who come across unknown pills or powdery substances should not handle them but instead call law enforcement, who can test the substance, according to Brazil.