Law enforcement officials seized 570 grams of fentanyl on Monday in southwest Ohio, a haul the Butler County Sheriff’s Office said modest amount is enough to kill 190,000 people – roughly half the population of Butler County. The DEA notes that 3 milligrams fentanyl is a fatal dose for most people.
Law enforcement seized the lethal drugs as part of an operation by the Butler County Undercover Regional Narcotics (BURN) Task Force with the assistance of the Hamilton Police Department’s Vice and Neighborhood Police Section.
In addition to the fentanyl, the BURN task force recovered 660 grams of meth, 139 grams of crack cocaine, a handgun, a scale, and approximately $800 in cash while conducting search warrants of two apartments in Butler County.
“We will continue the fight to keep Fentanyl and other drugs out of our community,” Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones said.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. In most adults, the DEA notes, a 2-3 milligram dose is fatal. The powerful drug is also made and used legally by prescription.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a report last year, saying that for the first time in modern history, over 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in the span of a year. Fentanyl and other synthetic drugs caused approximately two-thirds of those deaths.
The Ohio Department of Health states that in 2020, 81 percent of overdose deaths involved fentanyl, often in combination with other drugs. That percentage was up from 76 percent in 2019, 73 percent in 2018, and 71 percent in 2017.
In a statement on social media, Sheriff Jones said that the amount of the highly potent opioid fentanyl that officers seized is now off of the streets.
Jones said the findings resulted in two people being arrested. Law enforcement charged 33-year-old Edward Fox with three counts each of trafficking drugs and possession of drugs, all with a major-drug offender specification, and 38-year-old Pierre Wilson with having weapons while under disability.
Jones added that the two incarcerated men intended the confiscated drugs for people in his jurisdiction. He also expressed that this drug bust is not the biggest BURN has participated in but that it’s pretty close. He told WCPO 9 News in an interview that this case is still evolving and authorities are not done yet.
“We will continue to get these lethal drugs off the streets and put the drug dealers behind bars,” Jones said.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fentanyl Bust” by Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
