A potentially lethal mix of heroin and the synthetic narcotic fentanyl has been found in Connecticut and is being blamed in several overdose deaths, including that of a 14-year-old girl from East Windsor.
Hartford police say they arrested two dealers last weekend, both selling the heroin and fentanyl mix in packaging labeled “new world.” Police believe the emergence of this dangerous combination is related to recent trends in overdoses.
“Over the last month or so, our homicide detectives started noticing an increase in overdoses in the area,” said Deputy Chief Brian Foley.
In recent months, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported huge spikes in overdose deaths resulting from heroin combined with fentanyl.
Police say the cominbation has made its way to Connecticut. They believe the drug has likely been in state for several months, and that this weekend’s bust in Hartford is just scratching the surface.
Foley said police confiscated a "couple thousand" bags.
"In the real market heroin world, while it's a good arrest, it's not going to stop anything, that's for sure," he said.
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East Windsor Police Det. Matthew Carl said they’ve seen at least eight overdoses attributed to the combination, one of which resulted in the death of a 14 year-old East Winsor High School student.
Even before this potentially lethal combination arrived in Connecticut, Lt. Kenneth Cain with the Statewide Narcotics Task Force already considered heroin use an epidemic.
“You can’t pin them down to ethnic, racial, sex, financial backgrounds. You just can’t. It could be anybody, the stay at home mom, doctors, anybody,” said Cain.