Another overdose death in Peoria has been allegedly attributed to a combination of the killer drug fentanyl and cocaine that police say is similar to three other overdose deaths this week. Peoria Police Department officials later corrected their statement to say the latest death wasn't due to a combination of cocaine and fentanyl but rather a new version of fentanyl that resembles cocaine.
Assistant Police Chief Loren Marion says the drug looks like an off-white rocky substance that resembles crack. Chief Marion said, "Just to clarify, what we are suspecting is that the fentanyl is being purported to be crack cocaine." Authorities say the new type of Fentanyl appears to have just arrived this week but they have never seen a such a drug mimic crack.
Police Chief Jerry Mitchell says the new drug has exposed cocaine users to the possible ravages of opioids and called the new drug a game-changer. A fifth man was also found dead in Peoria County near Airport Road with a crack pipe in his hand. Police officials say they can't remember the last time someone died of a cocaine overdose.
Experts say that fentanyl has extraordinary profitability with only $800 worth of raw ingredients being capable of making $800,000 worth of street value. Moberg suspects this high level of profitability could be leading to people trying to pass it off as something it isn't. In mid-2016 in New Haven, Connecticut several cocaine users overdosed and when toxicology reports came back they revealed the presence of fentanyl.
Moberg said, "A rash of cocaine users had overdoses. Some survived; others didn’t,” he said. “The toxicology came back with the presence of fentanyl in the bodies of those people. The (Centers for Disease Control) put this out as a warning and to urge first responders to try (Narcan) if unresponsive."
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