Law enforcement in Florida is employing cutting edge technology to combat opioid trafficking, specifically of fentanyl, which continues to fuel drug deaths nationwide.
Officers with the St. Petersburg Police Department and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office can now detect the presence of fentanyl from up to a yard away with the use of a laser device. The technology was developed through a partnership between the two law enforcement bodies called the Fentanyl Detection Project, with help from Alakai Defense Systems in Largo, Fla., reports FOX 13.
Fentanyl is a synthetic painkiller roughly 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The Drug Enforcement Agency issued new guidance to police departments across the country in June on how to handle heroin and other narcotics due to the increasing prevalence of fentanyl. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein warned it only takes two milligrams of fentanyl, “the equivalent of a few grains of table salt,” to cause a fatal overdose.
Alakai Defense Systems previously aided U.S. soldiers with technology that detected chemical explosives from a distance. They hope to extend the range of the fentanyl detection laser as they continue to refine the technology. It is not yet ready for street use but the company hopes to develop a handheld version of the device within the next 18 months.
Officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where 60 percent of all U.S.-bound international mail passes through, are using a similar technology to increase detection and seizure of fentanyl through the mail.
“We’ve gotten a lot better at figuring out the threat, figuring out where it’s coming from, and identifying those packages that we need to treat as high risk,” Frank Russo, the port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at JFK Airport, told USA Today in September.
A year ago, drug agents stationed at JFK Airport only had an X-ray machine to work with, resulting in the seizure of just seven fentanyl shipments. The agents now have a number of K-9 units specifically trained to detect fentanyl and a handheld laser that can detect what kind of drug is inside a package.
Fentanyl is blamed as the primary culprit behind the massive increase in opioid-related overdose deaths since 2010. The fatal painkiller is coming in through international mail and private carriers from China and Hong Kong, where the majority of fentanyl is produced globally.
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