20,000 'unknown' pills part of large drug seizure on P.E.I.

Police on P.E.I. are concerned about 20,000 pills found in a drug seizure could be fentanyl or another dangerous opioid.

Queens District RCMP, with the assistance of RCMP Federal Investigations Unit and Charlottetown Police Services, recovered the "unknown" pills along with one kilogram of hash and approximately a half kilogram of marijuana on Sunday evening.

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Samples of the pills have been sent for analysis, said RCMP Staff-Sgt. Kevin Baillie.

No charges

"There is a concern that they could possibly be fentanyl or another opioid," Baillie said. "If we don't know for sure what they are, we're going to treat them like they could be one of these substances that are very dangerous to handle."

If we don't know for sure what they are, we're going to treat them like they could be one of these substances that are very dangerous to handle.- RCMP Staff-Sgt. Kevin Baillie

No charges have been laid.

Police acted on an anonymous tip regarding a suspicious package located in Queens County, Baillie said.

Because of the ongoing investigation, he could not not disclose any other information, but he did say the drugs "were hidden where someone wouldn't have come upon them accidentally."

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• 2 P.E.I. deaths related to fentanyl in recent years

Reliable tip

"We don't know for sure, quite often, when we get information how reliable it is, or the drugs may have been there but now they're gone. But in this case the investigators followed up on the information and did locate the drugs."

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Baillie said if anybody comes across pills or powder and and are not sure what it is, they should contact police. He said they should not touch it because it could be fentanyl or another dangerous opioid.

"It's likely at some point we are going to see these drugs in Prince Edward Island," he said.

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