Drug thought to be fentanyl was more deadly carfentanil, Hamilton police say
HAMILTON — Police in Hamilton say a bottle seized last month, that was suspected to contain a liquid form of the deadly opioid fentanyl, actually contained the more powerful drug carfentanil.
Officers seized the drug on Nov. 5 after the person who had the bottle turned it over to police, saying they were aware of the dangers of liquid fentanyl.
The seized bottle — in the form of an unmarked nasal inhaler — was sent for analysis, and police say they were notified on Friday that it was actually carfentanil.
More than 500 overdose deaths in Ontario in the past five years have been linked to fentanyl, and carfentanil is 10,000 times stronger that morphine and 100 times that of fentanyl.