KLEBERG COUNTY, Texas — It seems like we are hearing more and more about Fentanyl being smuggled into the country. It's a dangerous synthetic opioid that drug cartels are now selling as it gives a similar high to heroin.
Now, one South Texas sheriff's department is trying to protect residents and its officers from the threat.
Kleberg County Sheriff Richard Kirkpatrick explained to 3News Thursday the danger that just a small amount of Fentanyl poses to his deputies. Highway 77 is one of the main drug corridors through South Texas, and his deputies are always working the highway looking for illegal weapons, cash, immigrants and illegal drugs.
Many times they find what they're looking for, and that can turn fatal when you're talking about Fentanyl.
"Then our officers are in there conducting a search of that vehicle and somehow get exposed to it, because as I mentioned, it can go through your skin," Kirkpatrick said.
It is believed that cartels in Mexico are now starting to send more of the Fentanyl to the U.S. While Kleberg County has not come across the drug yet, it does see plenty of heroin flowing down the highway.
So Kirkpatrick was happy to accept a donation of 600 units of NARCAN, which can counteract the effects of those drugs.
"In some cases we're miles from the hospital, so when that matters in terms of time you may only have a few minutes to live," Kirkpatrick said.
The Kleberg County Sheriff's Office will be training officers over the next few days and they will be giving NARCAN to them to use out in the field by next week.
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