Dangerous designer drug found in Yk home: police
First time furanyl fentanyl has been found in city, say RCMP after searching Borden Drive house
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A powdery crystallized substance found after police executed a search warrant at a Borden Drive home on Saturday has been identified as the drug furanyl fentanyl.
Investigators in hazmat suits with RCMP Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response (CLEAR) teams from Alberta and B.C. helped carry out a search warrant at 166 Borden Dr. on Saturday morning. Lab results later determined a substance found there was furanyl fentanyl - a form of fentanyl police say they haven't seen in Yellowknife until now. - photo courtesy of RCMP |
This, according to RCMP after a hectic couple of days that culminated with heavy police and emergency response activity outside the home and a warning from health officials after eight people reportedly overdosed on fentanyl within 48 hours last week.
Furanyl fentanyl is described as less potent than the drug simply labelled as "fentanyl" although it has been blamed for at least one death in Surrey, B.C., last summer, where numerous people overdosed after smoking crack cocaine that was laced with the drug.
It is considered a designer drug, which is an altered form of an illicit drug usually created illegally in a lab.
"This is the first time that we have seen this type of fentanyl on the streets of Yellowknife and within the Northwest Territories," Sgt. Dean Riou, drugs investigator for the RCMP G Division federal investigations unit, stated in a news release on Monday.
"While we cannot link this seizure directly to the illicit opioid overdoses that were seen last week, we can confirm that it was involved in a suspected drug-related event at the residence."
RCMP spokesperson Marie York-Condon could not say exactly how much of the drug was discovered.
The most recent owner listed on the land title for the home at 166 Borden Dr., where police were investigating on Saturday, is Dean Oake.
Yellowknifer reached Oake by phone Tuesday morning but he declined to comment on whether he owned the home or whether any fentanyl overdoses took place there last week. York-Condon would not say whether there were any charges or arrests pending, only that the investigation is ongoing.
The house is just around the corner from Range Lake North School.
Yk1 superintendent Metro Huculak said the string of overdoses is unnerving.
"Certainly the overdoses are a concern to us because we want to make sure that our children are safe and not exposed to this," Huculak said.
The grounds of Range Lake North School haven't been searched and won't be unless there is reason to, he said, but added principals and teachers are making sure proper supervision is in place on school grounds. Officials are also talking to students about the dangers of illicit drugs.
"Parents are well aware of the situation," Huculak said. "The key is that our students know that they need to stay away from illicit drugs."
Range Lake North School principal Jodi Lee-Lewis said the school hasn't communicated with parents specifically about fentanyl but staff ensure the school grounds are safe each morning.
On Friday, the office of the chief public health officer issued a public advisory warning NWT residents of the dangers of opioids after last week's overdoses. RCMP issued a news release late that same day stating officers had responded to a series of calls related to suspected opioid overdoses within the last 24 hours. One RCMP officer was sent to hospital after coming in contact with an "unknown substance."
Several RCMP vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances were seen at 166 Borden Dr. on Saturday morning, where investigators in hazmat suits were inspecting the residence's garage. The home was blocked off by yellow police tape.
RCMP Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response (CLEAR) teams from Alberta and B.C. flew into Yellowknife to help the NWT Federal Investigations Unit and Yellowknife Fire Division carry out a search warrant at the Borden Drive home.
The residence was released by police Saturday evening and does not present any identifiable danger to the public, Monday's RCMP news release states.
Insp. Matt Peggs, Yellowknife RCMP detachment commander, offered his thanks to city firefighters for their help during the response last week.
He was asked for an update on the overdoses during a city municipal services committee meeting on Monday as part of a regularly scheduled presentation about police statistics.
For the first time, the city acknowledged using naloxone since adding the antidote for opioid overdoses to ambulances earlier this year. Dennis Marchiori, the city's director of public safety, told city council Monday evening it's a drug "which we have been using the past week."
York-Condon told Yellowknifer on Monday that RCMP had not received or responded to any calls related to suspected opioid overdoses since Friday.
- with files from Shane Magee
