Special agents with the Drug Investigation Division of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are concerned about recent evidence submissions to the TBI crime lab. Two different pieces of evidence from ongoing drug cases contained a deadly combination of drugs, and agents are worried that there are more lethal blends of drugs being sold and used that will have deadly consequences.
This a toxic mix of drugs that forensic scientists in the TBI labs have rarely, if ever, seen in evidence submissions. One evidence sample submitted contained a combination of ketamine, tramadol, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl (pictured below). Another sample was powder that tested positive for a mixture of methamphetamine, acrylfentanyl, and methoxyacetylfentanyl.
“These are combinations of drugs that don’t even make sense, and they are combinations that are lethal,” says T.J. Jordan, assistant director of the TBI’s Drug Investigation Division. “It’s the latest example of why no illicit street drug is safe. And with combinations of these extremely toxic drugs being mixed with each other, it’s a cocktail that has us very concerned. We need to remind the public again that these already-dangerous drugs are becoming more and more deadly.”
The TBI has joined other partner state and law enforcement agencies in recent months in issuing warnings about the powerful narcotic painkiller fentanyl being identified in samples of heroin, or in clandestine pills compounded to resemble legitimate prescription opioids. And more recently, evidence submitted to the TBI crime lab has shown that samples of cocaine have tested positive for fentanyl.
Anyone struggling with drug addiction issues should contact the Tennessee REDLINE at 1-800-889-9789.