Deadly Counterfeit Oxy Pills Found In Holmdel, Long Branch

HOLMDEL, NJ — The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday that two fatally-potent synthetic drugs, Carfentanil and Cyclopropyl Fentanyl, were recovered for the first time in Monmouth County.

The drug were recovered in separate police investigations in Long Branch and Holmdel earlier this year. It was only recently that the NJ State Police lab confirmed what they were: Extremely powerful and deadly synthetic opiates that made their way onto the Monmouth County drug black market. The Monmouth County prosecutor's office declined to say from where in Holmdel and Long Branch the pills were recovered.

“The arrival of Carfentanil and Cyclopropyl Fentanyl is bad news for everybody, especially those suffering with an opiate addiction in Monmouth County. Although these counterfeit pills appear to be oxycodone, they can have deadly consequences,” warned Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni. “If you are buying these pills on the street, you are playing a deadly version of Russian roulette.”

The pills were illicitly manufactured into pill form and imprinted with markings A/215, simulating oxycodone tablets.

Carfentanil is a powerful synthetic opiate that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. A single granule of Carfentanil, which has been approved only for veterinary uses, can be deadly to humans. The drug is so toxic that a recent DEA safety alert was issued to aw enforcement officers and first responders who may be exposed to Carfentanil as a result of accidental physical contact or inhalation. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edky/file/898991/download

Cyclopropyl Fentanyl, another fentanyl derivative, is intended for neither human or veterinarian use and has been linked to a rash of fatal overdoses in the state of Georgia earlier this summer. https://www.ems1.com/opioids/articles/276131048-Deadly-chemicals-in-Ga-counterfeit-pill-outbreak-identified/

Photo via the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office