Cibola’s Fentanyl epidemic

CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – Drug searches and seizures are not an uncommon occurrence throughout Cibola County, which boasts Interstate 40, a road better known as the Drug Corridor. Law enforcement from across the county have been working on drug interdiction and takedowns in an effort to keep the streets clean; in this effort, they have picked up thousands of pounds of different narcotics this year alone. Despite the work done by the police departments, there is still a large quantity of drugs that make their way to the streets; one of these drugs that is ravaging Cibola County and the rest of the country is Fentanyl.

On the front lines of this war against drugs are the men and women behind the badge, Cibola County Sheriff’s Deputies, Grants Police officers, Milan Police officers, Laguna and Acoma Police officers, New Mexico State Police officers, and federal partners who help survey and bring down drug traffickers on I-40 and across the county.

What is Fentanyl?

For too many, Fentanyl is not an uncommon term, for those unfamiliar with the drug, it is a synthetic opioid. A synthetic opioid is any substance developed in a laboratory that can pretend to be natural chemicals in an effort to create an analgesic – or pain killing – effect. Common opioids consist of Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Oxymorphine, Morphine, and Codeine. These are drugs often possessed by the severely sick or dying, and their intent, much like with Fentanyl, is to provide a temporary release from pain, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute of Health.

A recent uptick of Fentanyl seizures on the interstate have been worrying to Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace, who said, “You can overdose on Fentanyl, a grain of this stuff on your hands is enough to kill you.” The danger of the drug has changed how police officers handle drug search and seizures, forcing new technology to be developed that makes accidental exposure of Fentanyl and other opioids unlikely.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid much like Morphine, but a single dose of Fentanyl can be 50 to 100 times stronger and more potent than Morphine. According to data from the DEA, Fentanyl’s much stronger sister, Carefentanil, is 10,000 times stronger than Morphine, and about 100 times stronger than Fentanyl, local police agencies have not reported many incidents of Carefentanil trafficking. According to the DEA, two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to knock out an average sized adult elephant.

According to the US National Security Agency’s Fentanyl Working Group, one kilogram – or roughly 2.2 pounds of Fentanyl costs $32,000 to make, with a street value of $20 million.

Sheriff Mace explained that Fentanyl is often prescribed to cancer patients and others with life-ending diseases, this is because it helps these patients to deal with the pain of their illness. Due to its medical uses, Fentanyl is developed in different ways – from lozenges to patches, IVs and pill form; the drug is now being marketed as other opioids.

Cibola Substance Abuse and Prevention Coalition leader Lori Vigil explained that other, more mainstream opioids like Oxycodone and Hydrocodone are being sold to unsuspecting buyers who are unaware that the pills they just purchased are mixed with Fentanyl. A buyer could potentially purchase a lethal amount of Fentanyl when trying to purchase a different opioid, this is what makes Fentanyl so dangerous.

Sheriff Mace explained that Fentanyl is, when prescribed by an actual doctor, effective at treating illness and making patients more comfortable. When prescribed by what he called “a street-level pharmacist,” the drug goes from being a resource to a fatal instrument.

“Fentanyl looks identical to Oxy,” Sheriff Mace explained, “When people go to buy Oxy, they’re actually being given Fentanyl.” The sheriff then explained how the drug is making its way into Cibola County, information he discovered in the past week when working with Congresswoman Yvette Herrell (R – NM02) on the southern border with Mexico. “China supplies the cartels with Fentanyl and pill presses [According to Vigil, a pill or tablet press takes powdered drugs and presses them into a pill form.], since a number of states are legalizing marijuana, the cartels can’t make any money off it. So, instead, they’re taking pills like Oxys, cutting them with Fentanyl, and selling them like that.”

Because of the War on Drugs and the opioid epidemic in the United States, a new system was developed to help regulate doctors. Coalition leader Vigil explained that doctors are typically only allowed to prescribe seven-days’ worth of opioids to a patient at a time [There are instances where special circumstances change this rule.], this is to help control the epidemic which is sweeping the streets. The new system also prevents what Vigil called, “doctor shopping” by informing different doctors about the medication a patient is actively on, preventing multiple prescriptions of opioids.

Because of this rule, “street-level pharmacists” peddle their counterfeit opioids to the unsuspecting who are looking for an opioid with a much weaker effect. Fentanyl is so much cheaper to access and easy to pass off as other opioids that the cartels and drug dealers are making more people into addicts and causing the overdose death of users.

What is law enforcement doing about the epidemic?

In what has been a combination of resources from local police agencies, the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office created the Cibola County Narcotics Taskforce, a team with one primary mission – bring down drug dealers and keep Cibola’s streets clean.

This taskforce combines the resources of CCSO, MPD, the STIU teams from the area’s three prisons, McKinley and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Offices, and federal law enforcement agencies to fuse the abilities of each agency and keep officers safe.

Grants Police Department is not involved in the work of the taskforce, but Chief Steve Chavez of GPD has expressed his willingness to work alongside the taskforce in the future. Instead, GPD recently established the Street Crimes Unit, where officers have been bringing down local drug dealers and seizing their cache of drugs when available.

GPD Lieutenant Jeff Marez struggled when asked how many overdoses from Fentanyl his department deals with. “We have numerous overdoses from Fentanyl,” the lieutenant said, “It’s frequent.” While GPD doesn’t deal with a fentanyl overdose every day, it happens often, according to Lt. Marez.

Sheriff Mace explained that because Fentanyl is so dangerous, new equipment was constructed to make their police work safer. “We’re trained to recognize the drug, but we have a machine that tells us what the drug is without us having to touch it. Fentanyl is so lethal that it can be absorbed through the skin, that’s why we carry our Narcan.”

Narcan is another recent invention in the War on Drugs, according to Vigil, “Narcan is a great tool. It’s used to stop people who are overdosing.”

Because Fentanyl is so dangerous, police and Emergency Medical Service staff – like firefighters and ambulance workers – carry Narcan in case of exposure to Fentanyl, and to protect those actively overdosing, a reaction which can be fatal.

Vigil explained that Narcan shuts off the receptors in the brain that accept the chemicals delivered from medication. In simple terms, this means that the brain can no longer accept the drug, which helps save people during an overdose.

A lot of stigma follows this powerful weapon in the War on Drugs, Vigil explained that there is some negative sentiment toward using this life-saving tool on a person who is over dosing, “I hear it all the time, ‘they’re just an addict, so what if they [overdose]?’, or ‘something like this shouldn’t be used on an addict.’ Well, does it matter if they’re an addict? They’re still a human and they have family. The last thing anyone needs or wants to hear is that their son or daughter died from an overdose. Narcan can be used to save lives, that’s what it was made for.”

“Our guys save lives,” Lt. Marez said, “Our guys administer a lot of Narcan, and I’m sure [Grants Fire and Rescue] administer plenty before the ambulance arrives.”

Vigil’s Cibola Substance Abuse and Prevention Coalition has been active with the police departments, helping to organize and put on the National Drug Take Back events across Cibola County over the last few years. Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, in 2020 there was no large drug take back event, to compensate for this pandemic-era struggle, the coalition teamed up with each of the area law enforcement agencies and gave them each a sealed box where people can deliver their drugs to be destroyed by the authorities. The Cibola County Sheriff’s Office, located at 114 McBride Road in Grants, New Mexico, prominently displays their box for people to easily dispose of the drugs they no longer need or want. Vigil explained that this service is not specific to opioids and can be a great service for families who recently lost a family member who was on hospice care. Vigil explained that hospice patients who pass away usually leave behind prescription medication like opioids, and that this service can easily and safely dispose of those leftover drugs.

For those uncomfortable with turning to the police for destruction of their drugs, Vigil and the coalition have tools called DETERRA it’s a bag which can be opened, the drugs placed inside with warm water, sealed and shaken. Within thirty seconds the bag will inflate like its preparing to pop, but it won’t, and will slowly lose pressure, deactivating the drugs inside. The coalition can be reached at 505-246- 2621 for more information on Fentanyl, other opioids and drugs, and access to the DETERRA bags.

The War on Drugs

The War on Drugs is a term used to describe the United States efforts to stem the illegal drug trade. The initiative began on June 18, 1971 focused on tackling the opioid trade. Since before the 70s, individual states were passing laws and rules to prohibit the trade and use of certain illicit substances.

Fentanyl is a Schedule II Narcotic, the penalty in New Mexico for possessing a Schedule II Narcotic is up to a $5,000 fine, up to 18 months in prison, or both.

CCSO has been working with the Cibola Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition for several years, but in 2020 the coalition’s grant ran out and they lost a place to do business. The coalition continues to fight in the War on Drugs from their homes and still meets regularly, according to Vigil. One of the coalition’s programs, Peers Against Destructive Decisions, seeks to educate the future about the danger of drugs. PAAD is a program at Grants High School that puts the power of information into the hands of students, teaching them the dangers of opioids and other drugs, while giving them firsthand experience in sharing truthful and accurate information that will better the overall community. The coalition is looking for sponsors to their work, but will continue to provide services to the community from their homes in the interim.

“The law enforcement in Cibola is working hard to keep the streets safe for our children, and all of us,” Vigil said.

Assistance with addiction

For people in need of assistance with opioid addiction, there is help available.

State assistance:

• The NM Crisis and Access Line can be reached at 1-855-662-7474.

• The New Mexico Department of Health Opiate Overdose Prevention Helpline can be reached at 1-855-364-6663.

Cibola assistance:

• Cibola General Hospital can be reached at 505-287-4446.

• Valle De Sol Behavioral Health can be reached at 505-287-7985.

• PMS Grants Family Counseling can be reached at 505-876-1890.

• Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health can be reached at 505-552-6513.

• Pueblo of Acoma Behavioral Health can be reached at 505-552-6661.

• Ramah Navajo Behavioral Health Services can be reached at 505-775- 3353.

• Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital can be reached at 505-552-5300.

• Cibola County Regional Dispatch non-emergency line can be contacted at 505-287-4404. Call 911 if you or someone around you is having a medical emergency like an overdose.