House Republican Leader Themis Klarides today praised Derby police and federal authorities for making the huge deadly fentanyl bust that may rank as one of the largest hauls of the synthetic heroin in the country.
Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski, who was at a Derby holiday event with Klarides today, said after the fentanyl is cut repeatedly with heroin it could produce massive amounts of potentially lethal doses. Last year Klarides introduced legislation that would have made the penalties for possessing or selling fentanyl comparable to that of regular heroin. Currently, the penalties are less severe, something she said must be addressed.
“The Derby police and Chief Narowski worked extremely hard and effectively with the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency to disrupt the flow of this incredibly potent and dangerous drug. The smallest city in the state is the backdrop for one of the largest fentanyl busts that we know of,’’ Klarides said.
Narowski said that authorities are researching where this incident ranks with other large fentanyl busts.
The 55 pounds of the synthetic heroin that were seized is estimated to have a street value of $1.5. But repeated cutting of the material could increase its overall value to upwards of $50 million. Klarides pointed out that fentanyl is 50 times stronger than regular heroin and has been the cause of the massive rise in fatal overdoses in Connecticut and throughout the country.
“It truly is an epidemic that has affected so many families in every community, large or small,’’ Klarides said.
