OPD, DCSO records increase in overdoses on altered pills

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) - The Daviess County Sheriff’s Office and Owensboro Police Department are reporting an increase in the number of drug overdoses.

“The last month we’ve seen - really in Owensboro and Daviess County - we’ve seen a pretty big increase in the amount of overdose that units have responded to,” Daviess County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brad Youngman said.

Officials say most of these overdoses have been isolated to pills that look like prescription drugs.

“They think they’re buying a 30 milligram Percocet - that may be what they’re used to, that may be what they’re comfortable with, and it turns out to be something else," Detective Youngman said.

Officials with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office say these pills that look like Percocet are counterfeit and actually made in a clandestine lab with a pill press.

“If we had to guess right now, we’re still waiting on a lab test, we would say that they’re probably made up of Fentanyl,” Detective Youngman said.

Officers say this powerful opioid is forcing first responders to use life saving intervention like Narcan.

“Like I said, each one of them was a very serious overdose," Owensboro Police Officer Andrew Boggess said. “It could have potentially been fatal if not for those kind of interventions."

However, when the call came in for some, it was too late to administer Narcan.

“We did respond to a fatal overdose, interviewing witnesses at the scene and people who were familiar with what led up to it," Detective Youngman said. “It appears as though this individual had taken, most likely, a counterfeit pill that he thought was Percocet."

As of now, law enforcement officials say they’re working to track down the sources.

“Because ultimately we need to make sure that we get these off the street," Officer Boggess said.

Law enforcement officials say they want to remind everyone that people should only be taking medication prescribed by their doctor and that’s picked up from a pharmacy.

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