Carfentanil detected in Abbotsford for the first time

New lab results have confirmed that carfentanil the opioid drug that is 100 times more toxic than fentanyl has surfaced in Abbotsford.

Police say bothfentanyl and carfentanil were seized last month during a raid in the city.

"The drugs that were seized were street level drugs and the next stop would have been with the consumer," said Const. Ian MacDonald.

"Both the levels of the fentanyl and the carfentanil were at toxic levels."

MacDonald won't say how much fentanyl and carfentanil were seized or where the bust took place because he doesn't want to compromise the ongoing investigation.

Deadly drug

Carfentanil was first detected in street drugs in Vancouver in November and since then it has popped up elsewhere in the province.

The drug, which is used as an elephant tranquillizer, was linked to an overdose death last year.

MacDonald says it's so powerful, officers receive special training on how to deal with it.

"We actually run through scenarios now in this police department preparing for the possibility that one of our officers either on the front lines or even as they're handling drug exhibits could go into medical distress just from the exposure," he said.

Of the 922 deadly overdose deaths in B.C. in 2016, 37 took place in Abbotsford.

The Abbotsford Police Department has a resources pageon street drugs for parents on its website.