Las Cruces officials issue ‘unusual overdose activity’ alert

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Drug intelligence officers with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) for New Mexico issued an alert about "unusual overdose activity" in Dona Ana County.

Officials with the City of Las Cruces say there has been seven reported overdoses, including two fatalities, since Sunday. HIDTA officials say they suspect fentanyl, but no official drug test results have come back from the lab yet.

"Both overdoses that proved to be fatal occurred within Las Cruces city limits and appear to be unrelated. They claimed the lives of a 30-year-old man and a 26-year-old man," a city spokesperson explained. The spokesperson added that emergency crews tried to administer narcan, but that the two people could not be saved.

Officials added that the New Mexico Crime Lab has seen carfentanil show up in the drug supply recently. The potent synthetic opioid was first designated for use as a tranquilizer for large animals like elephants, and officials say it is not approved for human consumption.

"Carfentanil is estimated to be 10,000 times more potent that morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The high degree of potency of carfentanil makes it extremely easy to overdose on, even with minimal exposure."

For the month of August so far, HIDTA has learned of 21 overdoses, mostly in Las Cruces city limits. Five of those have been fatal.