Serious warning issued for drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl after one of the largest busts in US history
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: DEA
A drug bust saw the confiscation of a drug that is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, leading to a warning being issued.
According to a 2023 report by the National Center for Health Statistics, fentanyl has increased in causing overdoses on US people by 279 percent between 2016 and 2023, leading to death.
The drug has long been known to have set off a terrible addiction epidemic, with many dangerously unaware of just how little is required in your system to kill you.
The artificial opiate is extremely potent and is many times stronger than heroin.
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However, typically, it is used in prescriptions, which doesn't pose much of a risk as it's rigorously measured by medics.
However, when the substance is on the streets, that's where the troubles begin.
These street drugs have claimed many lives, but many more might be lost if people choose to try a new drug that is significantly more potent.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office seized one of the largest stashes of carfentanil in US history and, in a press release on Monday April 7, also revealed the devastating effects of the drug.
The DCSO worked alongside the United States Postal Inspection Service after the organizations’ became aware that a plan was in place to smuggle carfentanil analogue pills into the Omaha metro.
After bringing on board multiple other federal and state agencies, more than 30 pounds of carfentanil, (approximately 150,000 pills) were then seized.
Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson told First Alert 6 all about the pills and their dangers, stating: “Well, the most insidious thing about fentanyl and carfentanil is that the cartels press it into facsimile pills to make it look like prescription medication.
“Even if 1% of those 150,000 pills prove to be fatal, that could’ve meant 1,500 people in Douglas County and in this surrounding area dying of a fentanyl overdose.”
While drug overdose fell by 14 percent from June 2023 and June 2024, deaths from carfentanil rose by around 720 percent between the start of 2023 and 2024.
Usually, police are able to seize 24 pounds per bust, but this time marks the largest stash.
Sheriff Hanson shared his warning about the perils of buying street drugs, as those who take the them could actually be ingesting this very dangerous compound.
He warned: “We need to keep pushing public education and awareness about this dangerous drug. People are losing their sons and daughters to drug overdoses on a near weekly basis in the Douglas County area.
“Carfentanil can come in many forms and can be eaten, drank, breathed in, or even absorbed through your skin. I am proud of DCSO’s professional staff and our partnership with USPIS as well as our other federal, state, and local partners who work so hard for public safety to keep dangerous drugs out of Douglas County.
“This is 150,000 potentially lethal carfentanil pills that did not land in the hands of the citizens of Douglas County.”
Carfentanil was first created in 1974 at Janssen Pharmaceuticals and sold as Wildnil.
Usually, it operates as a sedative for animals such as deer, moose, elk, rhinos and elephants; ten micrograms can put to sleep or even kill a fully grown African elephant.
For humans, 1 microgram can be enough to cause euphoria and relaxation, but also brain damage and death.
It is extremely dangerous to ingest in any capacity.