Since Oct. 1, the Owensboro Police Department and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office have made 18 total charges in relation to drug trafficking across Daviess County and Owensboro. While drug trafficking charges are not uncommon in Daviess County, a substance that has recently been distributed across the area is certainly more uncommon — and more dangerous — than substances police normally discover.
An arrest made Friday, Oct. 12 included charges of trafficking in a dangerous fentanyl derivative–carfentanil. The same suspect was also charged with trafficking heroin and possession of methamphetamine.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl and carfentanil are extremely toxic substances that have increased drug overdose deaths since the beginning of 2016. The CDC describes fentanyl as “a man-made chemical compound that’s cheaper to manufacture than either heroin or cocaine.” Moreover, it’s up to 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The Oxford Treatment Center say it’s potency is so dangerous, two milligrams — a mere sprinkle — is lethal.
The DEA says carfentanil is a variation of fentanyl and is considered even more dangerous and deadly than the former. Manufactured as an elephant tranquilizer, the substance was never intended for human use. According to the DEA, carfentanil contains the potency of 10,000 doses of morphine and 100 doses of fentanyl.
Trooper Corey King, Public Affairs for Kentucky State Police, says it’s an absolute certainty that fentanyl and carfentanil are being distributed in Daviess County. According to King, one of the biggest problems with the fentanyl phenomenon is that most drug users don’t realize what they’re purchasing.
“Two years ago, we tested some methamphetamine that had some fentanyl in it — we thought it was contaminated,” King said. The KSP then discovered a consistency in drugs testing positive for fentanyl. “We realized this wasn’t just sloppy work [by drug dealers]. This was intentional.”
King added that, because of the perpetual increase in meth use in Daviess County, there’s no question that meth in our area is being mixed with fentanyl and carfentanil.
“We have tested positive for both fentanyl and carfentanil in the state. It’s being mixed with almost every drug that we know of,” King said.
According to the CDC, 10 states were studied between July 2016 and June 2017 regarding fentanyl and carfentanil overdose deaths — Kentucky being one of them. The statistics determined that out of 11,045 opioid overdose deaths, 2,275 (20.6 percent) tested positive for traces of fentanyl, while 1,236 (11.2 percent) tested positive for carfentanil.
The CDC study also showed that during the first half of 2017 in the 10 states studied, the number of deaths with any traces of fentanyl detected totaled 1,511 — nearly doubling the second half of 2016 (764). For carfentanil-related overdose deaths, the number increased over the same period of time by 94 percent, from 421 to 815.
Owensboro Police Department’s Public Information Officer, Andy Boggess, said officers try to use protective gloves when handling the substances, which are often absorbed through skin.
“We’re more aware of it here, of the potential dangers of it,” Boggess said, regarding both the–not unforeseen, but relatively low–numbers of opioid drug use and documented cases of fentanyl and carfentanil in the area.
While officials are battling the opioid crisis all over the nation, Daviess County has remained — for the most part — outside the opioid epidemic. According to records, OPD and DCSO have a combined total of 33 charges toward possession of and trafficking in methamphetamine–all since Oct. 1. In comparison, heroin charges in the area have only been made once over the same timeframe.
King says drug cartels and local drug dealers have begun using fentanyl and carfentanil to “cut” heroin and meth as it’s not only cheaper to make, but makes their drugs stronger and more addictive. In turn, more people in Kentucky have become addicted to, not only meth, but the fentanyl being laced into meth. King says meth labs have decreased dramatically across the area because everyone has turned to the cartel for their product.
“You truly never know what batch you’re going to get or where it’s coming from,” King said. “Our labs are seeing an alarming increase in fentanyl in meth. It’s being shipped here–it’s coming from cartels and, with that, you’re seeing more fentanyl.”
King said those using almost any drug in the area, aside from marijuana, are very likely ingesting either fentanyl and carfentanil without realizing it, raising their risks for fatality.
Because of the fentanyl epidemic, police officers and first responders are having to approach crime scenes and drug busts with a different approach. In May 2017, NBC News reported that patrolman Chris Green of the East Liverpool Police Department in Ohio accidentally overdosed on fentanyl after having brushed residue off his uniform from a drug bust. Within minutes of touching the fentanyl, the officer was so ill he had to be rushed to the emergency room. Four doses of narcan–an opioid antidote–saved the officer, but the drug was absorbed through his skin, and quickly.
While meth may be the primary “problem drug” for the area, heroin is also making its name known, and fentanyl and carfentanil are being mixed into batches of both. The risk of acquiring these drugs is higher than ever before. Drug overdose deaths in Kentucky jumped 11.5 percent in 2017 to 1,565, setting a new record, according to a report released by the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. In 2016, drug overdose deaths totaled 1,468.
Meth-related deaths totaled 360 across the state in 2017 — a 57 percent increase from 2016, according to the compiled data from the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office, the Kentucky Injury Prevention & Research Center and the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics which comprised the 2017 Overdose Fatality Report. This resurgence of meth in this area, combined with users’ inability to discern fentanyl from other substances, means more and more users may not be aware of what they’re ingesting, and fentanyl and carfentanil are increasing the risk of killing first-time users.
