About an hour’s drive northeast of Cincinnati will put you in Xenia, Ohio. The town just a few miles outside of Dayton was recently the site of a drug arrest involving a substance relatively unknown but quickly making a name for itself.
Carfentanil is “a synthetic opioid that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine,” according to a TV station report. A Greene County man was recently arrested on charges of drug trafficking involving carfentanil and fentanyl (the synthetic opioid reportedly caused the death of singer Prince about a year ago).
The 31-year-old defendant faces nine charges, including drug distribution and possession of heroin, carfentanil and fentanyl.
The Greene County sheriff said Xenia and surrounding communities are “unfortunately a very high heroin area.”
The escalating math means users of the substances face not only the possibility of prison, but death: carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl and fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin, the news report states.
The sheriff said one of the dangers is that drug users cannot always be certain of what substance they are purchasing, nor of its potential potency. That uncertainty can lead to accidental overdoses and deaths, he said.
And in the case of the 31-year-old, it has lead to a series of serious criminal charges that could mean years in a state prison if he is convicted.
Before talking to police or prosecutors about accusations or evidence, drug-trafficking defendants should speak with a Cincinnati criminal defense attorney experienced in drug defenses.
