North East Wisconsin Seeing Spike In Fentanyl Deaths

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office has released an emergency public service announcement after a spike in overdoses where counterfeit pills have been associated
with the deaths.

The counterfeit pills are made to look like real medications but have different ingredients. Some contain no active ingredient of the medications they are made to
look like.

Counterfeit pills may contain lethal amounts of fentanyl or methamphetamine and are extremely dangerous because they often appear identical to legitimate prescription pills, and the user is likely unaware of how lethal they can be.

North East Wisconsin, law enforcement are seeing M30′s or counterfeit Oxycodone pills that are testing positive for fentanyl.

The Winnebago County Medical Examiner’s Office confirms that of the 15 overdose deaths so far in 2023, 12 are attributed to fentanyl, with another 7 pending that are suspected to be fentanyl overdoses.

It’s estimated that through the use of Narcan, dozens, if not hundreds of additional deaths by overdose have been avoided.

In Fond du Lac County, 54,000 pills containing fentanyl were seized during a traffic stop in early December.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the majority of counterfeit drug production occurs in other countries, mainly China, Mexico, and India, though an
increasing number of pills laced with fentanyl are being produced in the U.S.