A traffic stop in Portland on Sunday night resulted in the seizure of a large amount of fentanyl and other drugs, the Portland Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
Officers made the traffic stop around 10:15 p.m. Sunday night on Park Avenue. They seized 137 grams of fentanyl and arrested a man on trafficking and other charges.
“To put this in perspective, fentanyl is considered lethal to many at 2 milligrams, making this amount large enough to kill the entire population of Portland (more than 68,000),” police said in the statement.
Overdose deaths in Maine set a record in 2022 for the third straight year, claiming an estimated 716 people. Roughly four of every five of these fatal overdoses were attributable to fentanyl, either on its own or in combination with another drug.
Officers also confiscated 228 grams of methamphetamines, 53 grams of cocaine base or crack, 25 grams of cocaine HCL, 73 Xanax pills, and more than $2,600 in cash.
Matthew Carey, 33, of Portland, was charged with two counts of aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, two counts of unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs and violating conditions of release. He was taken to Cumberland County Jail.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, making it a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S., according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are two types of fentanyl. Pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain caused by surgery or advanced stage cancer, while illicitly manufactured fentanyl is sold for its heroin-like effect. It is often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive and more dangerous, according to the CDC.
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