Deadly menace
Fentanyl’s rise in Yuma comes with a fatal cost
Editor’s Note: Fentanyl has been making headlines both locally and around the country amid a spike in overdoses and arrests. This story is one in a series examining the fentanyl issue and its impact in Yuma County.
Over the last year in Yuma, a “new” drug has led to both overdoses and arrests in schools and on the streets, leading many to wonder what, exactly, is going on here.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine. As a pharmaceutical drug, it was originally developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied in a patch on the skin.
However, in its powdered form, just a few specks of the substance — enough to fit on the top of a cap from a pen — is potent enough to be fatal, and it can be absorbed through the skin. And because it can be manufactured into a variety of forms, from lollipops to pills and more, it’s hard for officers to know what, exactly, they are dealing with when they encounter suspected narcotics.
The drug is changing how law enforcement officers respond to situations.
A NEW PROBLEM LOCALLY
While fentanyl has been around for decades, Yuma County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Alfonso Zavala said it hadn’t been a problem here until recently, especially within the last year. Prior to that, it was only being transported through the area.
“Most of it hadn’t been remaining here locally,” he said. “It was primarily being sent to larger cities, where it is worth a lot more.”
Sgt. Marco Santana of the San Luis
Police Department said San Luis, like many other border towns and cities, is typically a gateway for drugs, but now more often than not some of those drugs are staying in the communities.
Santana reported that San Luis police officers have responded to more than 20 fentanyl overdoses in the past year, including one that resulted in a fatality. There may be one other death linked to the drug, but San Luis police are still awaiting toxicology reports on it.
“We are one of many border cities experiencing problems associated to fentanyl,” Santana said. “It is pretty rare to see actual narcotic opioid pills due to counterfeit fentanyl pills. It is definitely an issue, but I wouldn’t say it is more widespread here than anywhere else.”
One of the biggest obstacles associated with fentanyl here in Yuma County for law enforcement is trying to identify it. While new procedures are being developed that will allow officers to test substances thought to contain fentanyl in the field, in most cases it is still being sent to the crime lab, which could take weeks to months to get results back.
Given that almost any drug could potentially contain fentanyl now, law enforcement officers also always wear protective equipment such as gloves, outfits and face masks when they have to handle unknown substances they suspect are drugs.
“All officers are to glove up, no matter what they are touching,” Sgt. Lori Franklin of the Yuma Police Department said. “It is standard practice on any drugs that officers come into contact with.”
LAW ENFORCEMENT CANINES AT RISK
Fentanyl isn’t dangerous just to humans — canines are also at risk of exposure.
Several law enforcement agencies in Yuma County use drug-sniffing dogs, so the risk of them being exposed to fentanyl whenever they are called to search for drugs is just as real to them as it is to their human partners.
Zavala explained that while fentanyl can be made into other forms such as patches, nasal spray, lozenges and candy lollipops, what deputies are seeing here most often are blue counterfeit pills commonly known as M-30s.
However, fentanyl in its pure form is powder, and Zavala said that has raised concerns in regard to dogs, such as accidentally getting traces of the drug on their fur and bringing it back to its human handler, or any other officer who might pet the dog following a successful seizure and get fentanyl on their hands.
Due to these dangers and others, handlers have attended drug-related training in which they are taught to watch for physiological changes in their dogs that could indicate a possible overdose. They are now also carrying Narcan, an overdose reversal medication, which can be administered to canines if needed.
Handlers are also employing new methods to keep these four-legged officers safe, such as no longer letting them search houses without first doing a visual search to collect anything suspected of being a drug that is in open view or sitting out in plain sight.
Yuma police officers used to let their canines get into a car while conducting a sniff search for drugs. Now, a handler and a canine just walk along the outside of the vehicle.
“If we have good information that fentanyl may be present, we won’t even use a dog,” Zavala said. “Ultimately it is the handler’s decision. They have the final say as to whether they deploy their dogs in these situations.”
USERS OFTEN UNAWARE OF THE RISKS
Fentanyl is now one of the cheaper drugs sold on the street and is frequently used to cut more expensive drugs like heroin and cocaine to increase the potency. However, many drug users are unaware of the dangerous mix and often overdose.
“These pills are everywhere, and anyone can get them. It has become a serious problem within our community,” Zavala said. “We even had one case in which deputies arrested a man who had well over 200 grams of fentanyl powder that he was selling as cocaine.”
He explained that while dealers are using fentanyl to improve the potency of their drugs, the measuring equipment used to make it isn’t fine-tuned enough to ensure they are staying below the level that would cause someone to overdose or take a fatal amount.
In some cases, drug users unknowingly buy drugs that have been laced with fentanyl and end up overdosing taking the same dose they normally do because the fentanyl is more than they can handle.
“It is pretty much a mystery pill every time you get it,” Zavala said. “The amount of fentanyl used varies from batch to batch, so drug users don’t know the potency of the pills they are buying.”
Both Franklin and Santana said it has had the same effect as any other drug that users get hooked on.
“People will beg borrow and steal to get the money for it,” Franklin said. “There is also usually a link between drugs and gangs.” Fentanyl costs between $10 and $15 per pill.
Zavala said the fentanyl being sold in Yuma County is actually being manufactured in China and imported to Mexico, where it is then smuggled into the country.
PROBLEM A HARD ONE TO MEASURE
San Luis police, working with the assistance of federal law enforcement partners, have had some success getting these pills off the streets, after having recently seized more than 4,000 fentanyl pills in two separate cases, in which they also arrested four suspected drug dealers.
However, Franklin said while fentanyl use does appears to be prevalent, there is really no way to tell how many people use the drug.
She said there have been very few arrests made involving fentanyl because about the only time officers encounter the drug is during an overdose, and that due to “Good Samaritan” laws, those involved can’t be arrested.
Franklin explained that many states, including Arizona, in an effort to encourage people to call 911 in the event of an overdose, have passed amnesty laws that provide protection from low-level drug offenses for a person seeking medical assistance, as well as the person who overdosed.
“Typically, when an arrest is made, most users will usually have between one and five pills in their possession when we pick them up,” Franklin said.