Black market opioid 15 times deadlier than fentanyl found at 4 ODs in HamCo, officials say
Westfield police are warning the community about a synthetic street drug up to 15 times more powerful than fentanyl.
The pill, called Pyro or M30, has been implicated in two fatal overdoses and at least two other non-fatal overdoses, authorities said.
“This is the first we’ve seen it up here,” said Westfield Police Lt. Billy Adams. “It popped up in other places around the country in the middle of last year and a couple spots elsewhere in Indiana at the end of last year.”
Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison said Pyro was found at the homes of two overdose victims recently, though whether they ingested it was unknown. Six of the pills were found near a 31-year-old military veteran who overdosed on fentanyl on Feb. 16 in Westfield.
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A 28-year-old man who overdosed in Noblesville on March 14 also had Pyro in his possession. The results of his toxicology test are pending.
"This is just what we've found so it's probably out there on a wider scale," Jellison said. "This drug is a bad deal and people need to be aware of it."
Williams said two people in the last three days overdosed on the pill but were revived by police and medics using Narcan, which reverses the effect.
What is Pyro
N-pyrrolidone Etonitazene is between 1,000 and 1,500 times more powerful than morphine and is nearly identical in appearance to black-market fentanyl pills, which are light blue with dark blue specks. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine. Police said Pyro is being marketed to look like oxycodone, with an “M” printed on one side and a “30” on the other.
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Police are asking residents to avoid handling the Pyro pills if they see them and call the police. They are also asking parents to talk to their children about the dangers of new synthetic “look-alike” opioids on the market.
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Hamilton County has averaged about 30 opioid deaths a year since 2014, with the majority being from fentanyl.
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Opioid 15 times deadlier than fentanyl found at ODs in Hamilton County
