STATESBORO, Ga. (WSAV) — Statesboro Police Department (SPD) arrested and charged one man with fentanyl trafficking Wednesday, recovering enough of the drug to potentially kill the population of Statesboro twice over.
Police said they found marijuana, pills, and trafficking amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl in a home on Catherine Drive, located off Fair Road, near Georgia Southern University’s (GSU) campus.
“When you're talking about dosage and potency of it, 6 ounces to us is an awful lot of that,” said Capt. Jared Akins of the SPD.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose. Doing the math, the amount recovered from the home was enough to kill about 79,000 people.
“You have really no idea what you're actually buying, and it doesn't take very much of that fentanyl for a lethal result,” Akins said. “We’re glad to have that amount off the street.”
Police were initially at the home to arrest another resident on battery charges when they noticed evidence of drug activity. After obtaining a search warrant, they discovered the drugs and arrested Otis Flores-Tirado on charges of drug trafficking and distribution.
“So many drugs now are adulterated," said Akins. "We almost never see anything that’s pure. Meth, cocaine—they can all be adulterated with fentanyl and often are because it’s a cutting agent in a way, and it also amplifies some of the effects. But that’s where you get your overdoses."
Akins told News 3, the neighborhood, located just a few hundred yards from Georgia Southern’s campus, is typically quiet and was once used as faculty housing for the university. Akins emphasized the importance of community involvement in identifying drug activity.
“Anybody that does have those drug complaints, just give us a shout,” he said. “You can call the main number here; you can submit an anonymous tip... those are completely anonymous. We can’t run you back down later on, so we encourage people to call and make those reports, and we’ll follow up on every one of them.”
The two men from the home are being held at the Bulloch County Jail.
One is facing his initial battery charge that the arrest warrant was for, while the other is charged with multiple felonies for drug trafficking and distribution.