Sioux City Police, Health Officials Alarmed By Rise Of Illicit, Dangerous Fentanyl | National News

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Det. Paul Yaneff holds a dose of Narcan, while talking about the Sioux City Police Department's use of the drug, which can be administered to reverse an opioid overdose, including illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Since he became a detective in 2020, Yaneff said he has seen fentanyl cases "accelerate."

Narcan, a drug administered to reverse an opioid overdose, is shown at the Sioux City Police Department. All officers carry doses of Narcan.

Mike Sitzman, a Sioux City Police Department detective, talks about the times he has had to administer Narcan, a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose, during an interview at police headquarters.

Narcan, a drug administered to reverse an opioid overdose, is shown at the Sioux City Police Department. All officers carry doses of Narcan.

Since he became a Sioux City Police detective in 2020, Paul Yaneff said he has seen cases involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl "accelerate" in the metro.

Narcan, a drug administered to reverse an opioid overdose, is shown at the Sioux City Police Department. All officers carry doses of Narcan.

Since he became a Sioux City Police detective in 2020, Paul Yaneff said he has seen cases involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl "accelerate" in the metro.

SIOUX CITY — Police Det. Mike Sitzman recalls administering Narcan, a nasal spray that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, on two different occasions.

With illicitly manufactured fentanyl spurring a nationwide overdose epidemic, more law enforcement agencies are equipping their officers with Narcan.

Sitzman vividly remembers that call that came into dispatch as a criminal trespass or burglary at a vacant downtown Sioux City business. When he arrived at the scene, he said he and other officers found multiple people who appeared to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol. As they continued to search the building, they stumbled upon a woman who was passed out in a first-floor closet.

Mike Sitzman, a Sioux City Police Department detective, talks about the times he has had to administer Narcan, a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose, during an interview at police headquarters.

"We tried waking her up. She was not coming to," Sitzman said. "I called for uniform officers who were still en route to bring in Narcan. We administered one dose. It did not appear to have any effect on her."

A minute or two later, Sitzman said they gave the woman a second dose and she began to wake up.

Sioux City Police Detective Paul Yaneff talks about how fentanyl cases are increasing in the city.

Drug overdose deaths are on the rise in Iowa, increasing 34% over the last two years. The Iowa Department of Public Health recorded 470 overdose deaths in 2021, up from 350 in 2019. Most of the deaths were due to opioids. In 2021, fentanyl was implicated in 83% of the state's 258 opioid deaths.

There are two types of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl and illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The latter is being mixed with other drugs, such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, and pressed into pills that resemble prescription opioids.

These counterfeit pills are often light-blue and marked with "30" in an effort to imitate oxycodone. However, last month, the Drug Enforcement Administration warned the public about brightly-colored or "rainbow" fentanyl. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram called the fentanyl pills and powder "a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults."

Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller expressed dire concerns about illicit fentanyl at a March Sioux City Rotary Club meeting, telling those in attendance that the drug is flowing into Sioux City at "alarming rates" and that it's "guaranteed" that more people in the community will die of fentanyl overdoses. Like other opioids, fentanyl depresses the central nervous system and respiratory function, which can lead to death.

Rachel Wurth, assistant medical director for Rosecrance Jackson Centers, said people are using illicit fentanyl any way they can get it into their bodies, including snorting and injecting it. She said some patients seeking treatment in Sioux City are now even identifying fentanyl as their drug of choice.

"For the first time this year, we had a referral of someone who was on a Narcan drip. She actually had to be on a drip in the hospital because she did try one of the blue 30s," she said.

Mueller discussed the ongoing fentanyl crisis with U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and other law enforcement officials in Primghar on Monday.

"The flow of deadly illegal drugs across our borders created a public health crisis and a national security emergency. Iowa law enforcement is dedicated to working with our elected officials to stem these deadly drugs and ensure the safety of Iowans," he said during the routable discussion.

Sioux City Police Detective Mike Sitzman talks about how officers carry and deploy Narcan to counteract opioid overdoses.

The Sioux City Police Department tallied five confirmed fentanyl overdose deaths in 2021 and two so far in 2022. Another death this year is suspected of being caused by a fentanyl overdose.

According to the department, 16 or 17 non-fatal overdoses in 2022 could be related to fentanyl. The department must send any substance thought to be fentanyl to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Crime Laboratory for testing.

Sioux City Police Det. Paul Yaneff said the drug is so deadly that investigators have to wear additional latex gloves and N95 masks when handling a substance that they suspect could be fentanyl.

"Any little residue that touches your skin could kill you instantly. It's very crucial that you have the protective gear when you handle this stuff," he said.

Linda Kalin, executive director of the Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center, stressed that illicit fentanyl is not the same fentanyl that's in a patch prescribed by an ER physician.

"We don't know who made it, as opposed to the drug companies' fentanyl that is not in an illicit market," she said. "Can medical fentanyl be abused? Yes. But, that's not commonly what we're seeing."

Kalin said illicit fentanyl, which doesn't rely on the opium poppy for production, was originally used as an adulterant in heroin. Now, she said it's taking the place of heroin. She said drug traffickers like the synthetic opioid because of its high potency. They can make a greater amount of product more easily at a reduced cost and rake in higher profits.

"Those counterfeit pills are in Iowa; and they resemble Percocet or Oxycodone. They resemble alprazolam or Xanax -- other prescription drugs. That's very alarming," she said.

The Iowa Poison Control Center (IPCC) recorded 24 human fentanyl exposure calls from January to August. In 2021, the IPCC tallied 35 of those calls, a 191% increase from 2020, when 12 calls were recorded.

Since people are not required to call poison control centers after every exposure, the data only captures a portion of the fentanyl exposures that are occurring.

According to the IPCC, hospitals are unable to test for new and novel drugs that are being abused, such as synthetic opioids. When providers become comfortable managing patients who have taken the drug, they stop calling poison control centers.

Brenda Iliff, vice president of clinical services for Rosecrance Jackson Centers, said illicit fentanyl is "extremely addictive" and 100 times more potent than morphine. Even after a person has received life-saving Narcan, Iliff said they could die from a fentanyl overdose, since the drug is still in their system.

"People say, 'I feel fine. I'm not going to the hospital,' and 15 minutes later or an hour later..." she said, trailing off. "They overdose. They die."

Narcan, a drug administered to reverse an opioid overdose, is shown at the Sioux City Police Department. All officers carry doses of Narcan.

Jim Haden, Sioux City Fire Rescue EMS director, said his department doesn't really track drug overdoses by substance, since its main objective is treating overdose symptoms, rather than identifying a drug and its origin. However, he said there isn't enough Narcan in town to deal with "the really serious cases" involving fentanyl or carfentanil, an opioid analgesic 100 times more potent than fentanyl.

Carfentanil, which is used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize elephants and other large animals, is also present in illicit U.S. drug markets, according to the DEA.

"Not only does someone need the initial dose of Narcan, but they could potentially have to be on Narcan drips in the hospital for quite some time," Haden said. "The biggest risk is not knowing what you're taking, where it came from and what they might have cut it with."

Since he became a detective in 2020, Yaneff said he has seen cases involving illicit fentanyl "accelerate" in the metro.

Yaneff said one of those cases involved an individual using marijuana that was laced with fentanyl, while another person died from a fentanyl overdose after purchasing what was thought to be cocaine.

"We're starting to see more and more of it and hear of it," said Yaneff, who said the drug is predominately coming across the U.S.-Mexico border. "It's not solely people buying the actual fentanyl. The problem is it's accidentally being laced or having it being laced with additional drugs."

At around 2:30 p.m. on May 4, "officers did a delivery of what was supposed to be 1.5 pounds of fentanyl laced pills" to a residence in the 900 block of 20th Street, according to documents filed in Woodbury County District Court.

Officers then executed a search warrant on the residence and found Karom Bol, 19, in possession of the "delivered items," along with a separate quantity of fentanyl. The fentanyl was in two bags, with an estimated 40 pills in each bag.

Sioux City police found 18 pills believed to be laced with fentanyl in a purse in the bedroom of 32-year-old Katrina Barnes and 17 grams of marijuana, as they investigated the June 9 shooting death of Dolorean Wade, which Barnes is charged with. A criminal complaint describes the blue pills as showing a "M" and, on the reserve side, a "30."

Wurth said people buying pills off the street can be "tricked pretty easy," thinking they're getting legitimate prescription drugs. Fentanyl test strips have been shown to be effective at detecting the presence of fentanyl in drug samples, but Wurth said some states classify the strips as drug paraphernalia.

Fentanyl test strips are illegal in Iowa and South Dakota. Since Nebraska doesn't include fentanyl test strips or testing kits in its definition of drug paraphernalia, the materials are allowed, according to the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, a nonprofit that conducts legal and legislative research and analysis.

Wurth said those struggling with fentanyl addiction shouldn't be afraid to reach out for help. Treatment at Rosecrance Jackson Centers begins with stabilizing the patient and helping them through the withdrawal process, which Wurth described as "very, very uncomfortable."

"We stabilize. We detox. And, then, we start exploring through therapy what's going on and how to think, feel and react differently," she said. "The gold standard for treatment with opiate use disorder includes medication-assisted therapy. We use Suboxone and Vivitrol."

Wurth said some people remain on medication-assisted treatment for the rest of their lives. Currently, she said Rosecrance Jackson Centers has roughly 150 patients on Suboxone, one of the main medications used to treat opioid addiction.

"What can be scary to come to us is that we're going to say you can't have anything. We're going to meet you where you're at, so don't be afraid to reach out if you're struggling," she said.

Originally published on siouxcityjournal.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.

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