Durham police see rise in fentanyl seizures as they work to tackle opioid crisis

We’ve all heard about the opioid crisis sweeping the country, but what are Durham police doing about it?

DRPS drug enforcement officer Detective Constable Scot Green says they’re focusing on stopping the drugs from coming into the community in the first place.

“One of the things the police do is we’re targeting the suppliers, we aren’t going out there trying to chase down the users,” said Green. “If we’re able to do that effectively, we make these dangerous drugs harder to get.”

Detective Constable Nick Baldini, who is another drug enforcement officer, echoed Green’s thoughts.

“A big thing is identifying where these drugs are coming from and developing strategies of how to combat drug traffickers and really tackle the source of the drugs,” said Baldini.

Baldini added police are seizing more pure fentanyl lately.

“We’re actually starting to see an increase in actual fentanyl by itself being seized,” he said. “In the past, there was a lot more of a heroin-fentanyl mixture.”

Green says to tackle the problem, you have to look at treatment, prevention, harm reduction and enforcement, which means it’s important for organizations to work together.

Baldini said it’s also important to educate people about opioids and their dangers.

Each year in Durham, there’s an average of five to eight homicides, 20 to 21 fatal collisions and 25 opioid fatalities.

Between 2016 and 2018, police say there was a significant increase in overdose deaths, which is correlated with more fentanyl in Durham.