Overview
- Agents seized 50,208 counterfeit M30 pills in a Sept. 16 Centralia, Washington operation involving the DEA, ATF, Federal Way Police and Centralia Police, arresting a driver from Pacific, Washington on federal charges.
- Testing at the DEA Western Laboratory in California confirmed the tablets contained carfentanil with acetaminophen filler, not fentanyl, following an initial K-9 alert and field tests.
- The El Paso County Coroner’s Office reported carfentanil in a recent local case without fentanyl present, warning that standard fentanyl test strips and some immunoassays may return false negatives.
- Authorities note a shift toward carfentanil being pressed into pills resembling prescription opioids, increasing the risk of unsuspected exposure and complicating overdose recognition.
- Officials advise that naloxone remains first-line for suspected opioid overdose, though incidents involving carfentanil may require multiple high doses and are not always reversible; CDC data show deaths rose from 29 in early 2023 to 238 in early 2024, with detections in 37 states.