Columbia River Drug Task Force Reports Fentanyl Made Its Way into the Valley

The Columbia River Drug Task Force is citing Fentanyl as the reason for the spike in other local crime sprees, like the recent series of thefts.

Fentanyl is a pharmaceutical grade drug initially provided to cancer hospice patients for pain alleviation. It is dosed in micrograms and extremely lethal.

"Some of it [the drug] was coming out China and shipped over to Canada in powder form and then the cartel started mixing it in with heroin," said Sergeant Chris Foreman. "People are doing whatever they can to get money to purchase Fentanyl pills is what is leading to these other crimes."

The task force is adding the recovery of stolen items to its list of responsibilities as a result of the drug's presence in the community.

"We are seeing burglaries, thefts from retail stores, car prowls, mail theft," said Foreman. "A vast majority of the people we arrest are addicted to Fentanyl."

According to Foreman, Fentanyl is the most potent opioid.