Police say critically ill child, fentanyl may be linked

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This article was published 21/10/2016 (3329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police believe the discovery of a critically ill child in a North End house may be connected to the powerful opiate fentanyl.

The child, who has been uPgraded to stable condition, was rushed to hospital late Tuesday afternoon, police said Friday.

The child is under 18 months old. Police would not confirm whether adults in the house were the child’s parents, only that they were not strangers to the child. There were no other children in the house.

The force’s Clandestine Lab Team have taken over the investigation of the home on Aikins Street.

Police have strong suspicions there was fentanyl in the house but tests will take several days to verify that. No charges have been laid at this time.

“If we confirm it is fentanyl, that would be different from a child who got a toxic substance that’s normally found in a household,” said Winnipeg police spokesperson Const. Rob Carver.

Police are releasing the information in advance of completing the investigation to serve as a public health warning, Carver said.

“We chose to go public and make comments because of the gravity of the situation, and that’s not something we’re known to do,” he said.

“We want people to know what we know at this point, to know the sort of risk this drug poses to the community.”

Last year, 29 people in Manitoba died as a result of misusing fentanyl, a drug that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.