Discovery of deadly opioid drives RCMP to crack down
Posted Jan 13, 2018 8:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The recent discovery of carfentanil during a drug raid in Airdrie, is highlighting the dangers of opioids threatening Alberta communities.
Investigators found a killer combination of the elephant tranquilizer mixed with heroin.
The slightly less deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl was also found, along with methamphetamine.
Airdrie RCMP Commander, Inspector Kimberley Pasloske, says she’s been focused on cracking down on drug crimes since taking over last year.
“You’re hearing on the radio the public service announcements about fentanyl and how it can be found within not just drug dealing communities but in lower, middle, even upper-class neighbourhoods. This is a very real danger that we are facing.”
Pasloske says other crimes are often driven by the drug trade, including break-ins and car thefts.
“We will be taking these fentanyl dealers down, we will be addressing them. Because we know that drug trafficking can lead to, or is the cause of, many, many of the other offences that we’re seeing out there right now, with the theft of vehicles, thefts from vehicles. We know there is a link, so we’re addressing it on a wide spectrum of areas.”
A local man and woman from Calgary are charged after the search of a vehicle and hotel room turned up the drug stash.
Carfentanil is said to be 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which has already led to thousands of overdose deaths in Alberta and across the country.
