Inside the DPS chemist lab that looks at the fentanyl entering our community

MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) - Illicit fentanyl is now the number one killer of 18 to 49-year-olds. Studying it to find out if a pill is laced with fentanyl requires protective gear over the eyes, mouth, and hands, fentanyl is that deadly.

So far in 2023 DPS in Midland has seized 5 kilo grams of fentanyl. That is 11 pounds. That amount of fentanyl is enough to kill 7.5 million people.

DPS in Midland is in charge of investigating fentanyl across 17 counties in the Permian Basin.

Midland and Odessa are ranked the most dangerous for how much fentanyl is coming through the streets.

“So, we probably see 70% of our fentanyl cases from that area” Marissa Silva Gomez, Lab Manager for DPS of Midland

Chemists at DPS see fentanyl coming through their lab daily now. And the fentanyl they’re seeing is being disguised as oxycodone, cocaine, heroin, meth, the list goes on and on.

The list gets longer and longer because the people making the drugs are getting better at disguising it. A common pill investigated is light blue, with an M stamp on one side and a 30 on the other. Anyone who’s been prescribed oxycodone would recognize that pill.

And that’s the point.

“They have special equipment that pharmaceutical companies use to make these tablets that are real. Because of that, that’s why you can’t tell the difference. They even have the color down to the same blue color as an M-30 pill that is pharmaceutically oxycodone but what we’re seeing is fentanyl now” said Silva Gomez

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

Despite fentanyl being FDA-approved and legal to use for severe pain, illegally made fentanyl is used by drug dealers because of its potency.

As a result, it’s becoming much more profitable to use fentanyl than other drugs since dealers don’t have to use as much to create a “high” and because of that, we are seeing more fentanyl and more deaths.

Back in 1999, just a little over 8,000 people died from fentanyl, but fast forward to 2021 and that increases to 100,000. That’s an 1100 percent increase in fentanyl-related deaths over the last 20 years.

Contact with the drug can be seen in the West Texas community.

“We met with a 12-year-old yesterday. And it’s crazy because a lot of parents still don’t realize that their kids are coming in contact with it” said Michelle Watson, Founder of 1:11 Project

It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, black or white fentanyl affects everyone.

Parents and even friends need to watch for signs of drug abuse.

“And so, you know, pay attention to their phones, watch what they’re doing, watch who they’re hanging around with, where they’re going, and get their locations. A lot of times these kids go and take things and their friends will leave them there because they get scared and so it happens all over” said Watson

The most important thing for everyone to remember.

“One pill kills,” said Silva Gomez

If you think you know someone who has been exposed to fentanyl or are seeing signs of drug abuse you can always call local law enforcement to help as well as the 1:11 Project that will help individuals.

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