Growing flood of fentanyl hitting Olmsted County

Apr. 9—ROCHESTER — In less than 24 hours over the course of two days last month — March 27 and March 28 — law enforcement in Olmsted County confiscated an estimated 5,800 suspected fentanyl pills.

The pills, which are marked with an M30 imprint to look like legitimate oxycodone pills, are a growing problem in Olmsted County, one public health officials and law enforcement see as more than just another street drug.

"Fentanyl cases are definitely on the rise in our area as well as nationally," said Olmsted County Sheriff's Capt. Tim Parkin, the commander of the drug task force for area law enforcement. "Yes, we are continuing to see larger quantities of fentanyl than in the past. Most frequently seen are M30 pills that contain fentanyl."

In 2023, the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office confiscated 551.9 grams — 1.216 pounds — of fentanyl, or 371,218.4 dose units, Parkin said. Law enforcement find fentanyl in two forms: a powder that can be used to lace other drugs or the M30 pills.

The Rochester Police Department nabbed another 9.57 pounds of fentanyl in the form of M30 pills, which is equivalent to about 43,000 pills, said RPD Capt. Casey Moilanen.

At a cost of about $4-$5 per pill, that's a street value of about $200,000.

When dealing with fentanyl, especially in its powder form, law enforcement must take precautions.

"A quantity of fentanyl the size of a pencil tip can kill you," Moilanen said. "Officers wear protective gloves and other necessary equipment when handling these type of substances."

Sidney Frye, program manager for Olmsted County and a Community Outreach Team supervisor, said since 2017, the amount of and illicit use of fentanyl has been a growing trend, peaking in 2022, but with a slight — "It wasn't drastic" — decline in 2023.

"There had been a trend, a steady increase of unintended opioid overdose fatalities in Olmsted County," he said. "They had been increasing steadily. That's definitely the trend. And overdoses in general, that number had been increasing as well."

According to RPD's annual crime report, officers responded to 10 overdose deaths and a total of 89 drug overdoses in 2023, a 26% decrease from 2022.

"We know this is not an accurate representation of overdoses in our community. It does not account for overdoses where bystanders administer naloxone/NARCAN, a now widely available medication used to reverse an opioid overdose. Officers administered NARCAN 42 times in 2023," the report said.

Frye said despite the small downtick in 2023, the overall trend with fentanyl is still concerning.

It's not just the potency of fentanyl that is concerning, he said. It's the variation of potency from one dose to another. The counterfeit M30 pills with fentanyl don't always come with the same amount from pill to pill.

"I can take one pill and it hits completely different than another one from the same batch," Frye said. "They're playing Russian roulette with these."

That, he said, and fentanyl has become one of the popular illicit drugs of the day, replacing heroin as the opioid of choice on the street.

"There's challenges with misuse of any substance, but fentanyl provides some unique challenges on the community," he said.

Moilanen said the fentanyl crisis is a multifaceted challenge that requires a united and coordinated effort from law enforcement at all levels. Law enforcement in Olmsted County is part of several task forces that look to stem the flow and sale of illicit drugs. Those task forces include the SE MN Violent Crime Enforcement Team and the North Central High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a federal program to address drug trafficking in a coordinated manner.

Frye said the county's Community Outreach Team has hired two peer recovery specialists and a licensed drug and alcohol dependency counselor in the wake of the increases in fentanyl abuse.

"We're doing post-overdose outreach, trying to connect that individual (who has survived an overdose) to resources," he said.

That includes having rapid access to substance abuse assessments to get individuals into treatment more quickly, but also conducting outreach on the street at day shelters and homeless encampments, he said.

One of the problems, Frye said, is that people using other street drugs may unintentionally purchase those drugs that are laced with fentanyl.

"That impacts the number of overdoses we see in our community," he said. He added that the fentanyl boom is new enough that some people might not recognize a pill with fentanyl if they saw one.

All of this is happening in a landscape where other illicit drugs are still popular and available among drug users.

"Meth is still a thing," Frye said. "Other drugs as well. It's a complicating factor. Coke, meth, marijuana, opioids: It does complicate what services may be advantageous to access."

Parkin said most of the fentanyl in the area comes from Mexico, mainly via couriers bringing it on the highways, or the drug is shipped to local dealers via FedEx or UPS.

Like Frye, Parkin said the mixing of multiple drugs makes it harder for law enforcement to figure out exactly what they are dealing with when they are talking to someone under the influence.

"For example, a person may be taking some sort of depressant, and try to counter or mask the effects with another substance," Parkin said. "While detecting general impairment hasn't changed much, pinpointing what a person may be using is more complex. This often takes additional training of staff."

Also, Parkin agrees that fentanyl has been a growing problem for several years. But as this new challenge has grown, law enforcement still must deal with other illicit drugs.

"The general trend appears to be that drug use and sales are increasing," Parkin said. "Fentanyl is sold at a relatively cheap price and highly addictive. We are seeing it mixed in all kinds of other substances (such as methamphetamines and cocaine), which makes it especially dangerous."