2 hospitalized after 'purple heroin,' meth overdose, Brandon police say

Two people were hospitalized Monday night after Brandon police said they overdosed on a deadly mix of substances city police haven't seen before.

Police were called around 11 p.m. to assist city firefighter-paramedics at a home in Brandon.

Two adults were found unresponsive in a residential bathroom by another person, police said.

Both were rushed to hospital and one remains in the intensive care unit.

Investigators learned the pair had purchased two substances, one described to officers as "purple heroin," and the other as methamphetamine, according to Sgt. Kirby Sararas, a spokesperon for Brandon police. 

Sararas said initial tests done on the substances found a mix of fentanyl, butyrylfentanyl, carfentanil and methamphetamine.

"Fentanyl in itself is really dangerous," Sararas told CBC News. "To add carfentanil to that mix kind of ups it even that much more."

Sararas believes it's the first time officers have confirmed the presence of purple heroin in Brandon. 

Increased vigilance 

She said the discovery is a concern for city police.

"Our members are constantly going into environments where they have no idea what they're coming into," she said, adding that as little as .02 milligrams of carfentanil can be fatal. 

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid, typically used as a pain reliever estimated to be 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. 

Carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl and could be fatal though ingestion or inhalation, police said. 

Sararas said police and emergency responders in Brandon do carry naloxone, which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, as well as personal protection.

"In a case like this where we're going in to help people I don't know that it would be their first instinct to put that on," she said. "Their first instinct is going to be to run in to help those people.

"They definitely do have to be very vigilant, especially if there's any kind of powder substances around," Sararas said. 

Purple heroin has been discovered in other jurisdictions in Canada and has been found to generally contain a combination of heroin mixed with fentanyl, carfentanil and other opioids.

Discovered in Winnipeg

Winnipeg Police inspector Max Waddell said Winnipeg police are aware of the substance and have come across it in the past.

"These drugs are extremely volatile and dangerous and can result in death because [there's] no science involved with the individuals that are putting these drugs together," he said. "It is most certainly very very dangerous." 

Waddell said seizures of fentanyl in Winnipeg have dropped — partially due to methamphetamine becoming the drug of choice for some. 

Brandon police are still investigating where the substance came from and how the two victims got it.

"Our message is always do not do these drugs, period," said Sararas.