Police warn about dangerous counterfeit oxycodone pills seized in Chestermere
Posted Apr 1, 2014 3:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Calgary Police have charged a Chestermere man after seizing $768,000 worth of counterfeit oxycodone pills from a vehicle.
Brian Thomas Harrington, 29, is accused of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.
Investigators say the drugs actually contained a dangerous mixture of caffeine and fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a very strong painkiller, often used to help put patients under for surgery, and it can be up to 100 times more powerful than morphine.
Inspector Tom Hanson with the Organized Crime Unit says these counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills are becoming more available in many Canadian communities and drug addicts expecting a certain high are getting more than they bargained for.
“It certainly is more powerful, but that’s not necessarily what the people that are using it are going to want initially. They want the high that they are used to,” he said. “If it’s a stronger high, and much more addictive, then the traffickers can develop a stronger following.”
Hanson says the pills could have dangerous consequences and may be linked to recent overdoses in the city.
“It is a bad combination, because it changes the effect of how it affects the body. It changes the high,” he said. “We’ve seen some isolated incidents that we expect are related to this in the last few months. We can’t say for sure if it’s related to this specific drug or this seizure, or the people that are manufacturing it.”
Police are still looking to lay charges against those manufacturing the counterfeit drugs.
While the seizure was made in Chestermere, they don’t believe that is where the drug lab is located.
