Counterfeit pills containing Fentanyl continue to be identified

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -An ongoing opioid crisis has rocked families and communities for the past couple of years, and a recent string of arrests shows that it isn’t slowing down.

The Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force arrested 34 year old Dominique Breham for possession of 62 grams of cocaine and nearly 800 counterfeit oxycodone pills believed to contain Fentanyl this weekend, and last Friday a jury convicted 20 year old Wesley Andreason of a fifth degree controlled substance crime in Renville County, a case which also involved counterfeit oxycodone pills containing Fentanyl.

County officials said that the number of related drug crimes have shown constant growth over the past couple of years.

“I remember when I started we rarely had any Fentanyl cases, and now I’m not surprised at all to see Fentanyl as part of our case load. It was usually always methamphetamine, and now it’s more like 50/50. Probably 50/50 Fentanyl and methamphetamine,” said Renville County Attorney Kelsie Kingstrom.

Both of these recent cases involved Fentanyl disguised as a different drug, in these cases oxycodone.

County prosecutors believe that this mixing of drugs is happening at all levels, confusing both users and dealers alike.

“I don’t have this theory that dealers are like ‘oh I’m actually selling you Fentanyl and I’m going to tell you I’m selling you oxycodone. That wouldn’t be good for business because then you would lose customers. I truly believe these dealers don’t know what they’re selling, which is the most dangerous part of this entire thing.”

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