SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Salt Lake City Police are reporting an increase in a specific pill being confiscated over the last month. The pills are called M30 pills, also known as “blues.”
The pills are round and have a light blue color. According to the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration, they are being seen in larger and larger batches of counterfeit oxycodone tablets.
SLCPD Sgt. Mark Wian said while these pills are meant to look like oxycodone, more often than not, they are laced with fentanyl.
“We want to raise awareness to our community that this is a problem,” said Wian.
While putting together a press release, Wian said he got a call about another major drug bust on Wednesday.
According to SLCPD, officers assigned to the Liberty Division Bike Squad stopped an SUV near 900 West Indiana Avenue for a moving violation. Police say the vehicle smelled of marijuana, so they searched it. During the search, officers say they found packages of blue M30 pills, cocaine, methamphetamines, and a large amount of pre-packaged edibles containing THC.
In the last month SLCPD has recovered nearly 1,000 M30 pills.
“This is a very dangerous situation that our community can be put in,” said Wian.
According to police, fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It’s so deadly police are now equipped with a prescription to try and save the lives of people who overdose.
“We all carry Narcan, because we have to make sure that we’re protecting ourselves so that we’re able to protect the community also, and maybe another officer that may get exposed to it if we’re working together,” said Wian.
