Two arrested after infant was possibly exposed to fentanyl

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This article was published 24/10/2016 (3326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two adults have been arrested after a critically ill infant was rushed to hospital Oct. 18, possibly suffering from exposure to the powerful opiate fentanyl.

Winnipeg police wouldn’t confirm the infant’s parents were arrested but said the two adults face charges related to the well-being of the infant and for drug-related offences. Police said they will be releasing more information Tuesday.

The infant, who is under 18 months old, was rushed to hospital from a home on Aikins Street in the North End last week. The child’s condition was later upgraded to stable. 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 police service’s clandestine lab team took over the investigation of the home on Aikins Street.

Police at the time said they had strong suspicions there was fentanyl in the house but that tests would take several days to verify that. They went public with the information to serve as a public health warning about exposure to the potentially fatal drug. 

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.