The ongoing criminal investigation into a spate of possible overdose-related deaths in Austin this week has not pointed to a “single organized group” distributing narcotics, a police spokesperson said Thursday, though at least one arrest has been made on an unrelated charge.
Austin police believe the uptick in overdoses was the result of people ingesting crack cocaine potentially laced with fentanyl, a highly addictive painkiller used legally in medical settings, said Anna Sabana, the police spokesperson. Two milligrams of fentanyl — the equivalent of 10 to 15 grains of table salt — can be deadly for the user, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Nine Travis County residents have died this week in what authorities have described as the worst “outbreak” of opioid overdoses the Austin area has seen in at least a decade. Since Monday, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services responded to 79 overdose calls in Travis County, Capt. Christa Stedman said Friday. Austin-Travis County EMS typically responds to two to four opioid overdose calls per day, she said.