Earlier this afternoon, a police sergeant in Harris County, Texas (which incorporates most of the city of Houston) was hospitalized after touching a flyer left under a police patrol vehicle’s windshield wipers. The flyer was discovered to have been laced with the powerful opioid known as Fentanyl.

Several other police vehicles were tagged with the same flyers.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid used as a pain medication as well as anesthetic. Fentanyl pharmaceutical products are currently available as oral lozenges, effervescent buccal tablets, sublingual tablets and sprays, nasal sprays, transdermal patches, and injectable formulations.

According to the DEA, Fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic.

https://www.dea.gov/druginfo/fentanyl.shtml

Fentanyl is a Schedule II narcotic under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970.

In recent years, Fentanyl has become a popular street drug serving as an alternative to heroin and other prescription painkillers.

It is also far more deadly.

Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl (which is equivalent to ~10 grains of salt) can cause death.

According to the CDC, among the more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs.

China and Mexico appear to be the main sources for illicit Fentanyl in the United States. Seizures of large quantities of the drug occur regularly across N. America.

This week, 22 POUNDS of Fentanyl were seized in a drug bust in Columbus, OH. This is enough to kill millions.

Last April, a stunning 118 POUNDS of Fentanyl were seized by the Nebraska State Patrol following a routine traffic stop.

AlertsUSA warns subscribers that the Texas incident is an extremely dangerous development, almost certain to draw copycat attacks in Texas and elsewhere.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is warning the community about the flyers via local and social media. 

Extreme caution is urged. No other logical guidance can be offered in this situation other than to be suspicious of what you are picking up. If in doubt, don't touch it.