ADDITIVE BLAMED IN 94 LOCAL DRUG DEATHS

Overdoses of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller commonly mixed with
street drugs, killed at least 94 people in Camden and Gloucester
counties last year, state officials have reported.

The drug, thought to be made in illicit laboratories, is also blamed
for four deaths in Burlington County, according to the state
Department of Health and Senior Services.

The agency began tracking fentanyl-related deaths after an upsurge in
fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the Camden area in April.

Officials reported 133 deaths between April and September, including
21 in Mercer, Monmouth and Salem counties.

"More suspected cases are under investigation," the agency said in a
report posted at its Web site.

Information about overdose deaths after September was not immediately
available.

The report said most victims died after injecting fentanyl, which was
often mixed with heroin and/or cocaine.

About 85 percent of the fatalities were men, with a median age of
about 37. Nearly 80 percent were described as "non-Hispanic white."

The full impact of the "extremely powerful" drug on overdose deaths is
not yet known, the agency said. But it noted Camden County had at
least 105 overdose deaths in 2006, up from 71 a year earlier.

It also cited "some anecdotal evidence that publicity about fentanyl
The report said victims of fentanyl have little time to seek help.
Fatal overdose can occur very rapidly, and some (victims) have been
found with partially filled syringes in their arms," it noted.

Fentanyl is believed to be 40 times more potent than heroin. The drug
can kill by causing respiratory arrest, "often accompanied by a coma,"
the report said.

It said fentanyl-related deaths were also reported last summer in
Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago, among other cities.

Law-enforcement officials have said they reduced the local supply of
fentanyl-tainted heroin in late July with the discovery of a drug
operation at a home in the 1200 block of Union Avenue in Pennsauken.

A federal grand jury in October indicted Jaime Castellar, also known
as Jaime Rivera, who is accused of overseeing the Pennsauken operation.