On Wednesday, a meeting was held with the metro Atlanta Drug Enforcement Commanders to discuss officer safety and handling of extremely dangerous drugs being encountered at the GBI Crime Laboratory, including synthetic opioids found in counterfeit pills.  “Graveyard dead,” was the warning GBI Director Vernon Keenan gave during today’s public safety meeting on the dangers of the use and abuse of synthetic opioids, with a heavy emphasis on fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives.  The alert was prompted by a recent study by the GBI Crime Laboratory which found imitation prescription pills that contained deadly opioids.

Dan Salter, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta and Jack Killorin, Director of the Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), were also in attendance and joined with the GBI in alerting officers and the public about this issue.