BAKER CITY — Three fatal drug overdoses in Baker City in the past six months were tied to counterfeit opioid pills laced with fentanyl, a powerful painkiller, law enforcement officials said in a press release.

The joint release was from the Baker County Narcotics Enforcement Team and New Directions Northwest Mental Health and Crisis Response Partners.

The pills are sometimes called “blues” or M30s,” according to the press release.

Similar to other communities across the nation, Baker City emergency responders have confirmed three recent fatal overdoses tied to counterfeit opioid pills. 

“While we recognize there are a variety of reasons for drug use we want to remind the public that we will actively pursue and prosecute individuals and/or organizations that continue to distribute dangerous narcotics to community members,” said Lt. Ty Duby of the Baker City Police Department. “We also want to remind folks that one can be held criminally liable for a death if they were the supplier of that substance.

“Our team currently sees methamphetamine and heroin, laced with fentanyl, as the number one drug problem in the Baker City area,” Duby said. ”We do see pill use in the form of Oxycodone pills. We also have seen locally the blue pills that are most likely manufactured in Mexico made to look like oxy 30s and they also have some fentanyl mixed in.”

Although Baker City police officers and Baker City Fire Department paramedics carry Narcan, which can prevent overdoses, during the past year one person who was saved by Narcan was found dead two days later from another overdose, according to the press release.

“We want individuals who use heroin or oxy 30 pills to know what’s truly in it,” Duby said. “Information on the street and lab tests are showing that more often than not the heroin also contains a certain amount of fentanyl. In the last six months Baker City Police have responded to three known overdose deaths involving suspected heroin containing fentanyl. We are seeing certain individuals repeatedly overdosing.”