SANFORD, Maine — Six opioid overdoses, including one death, occurred in less than two days, according to Sanford police.
Police said they believe one drug dealer is responsible for these overdoses, and that all six victims took the same drug.
Police said the overdoses happened late Friday morning into Saturday evening in Sanford.
In one case, a woman called police after finding a man she was with earlier unresponsive on the floor. Police said that 44-year-old man died.
Sanford Police Chief Thomas Connolly said they are still waiting on the medical examiner’s report, but he believes all six victims took fentanyl, a synthetic drug and often sold as heroin or mixed with heroin.
“Let’s face it, this is not an exact science, you’re taking the word of the person who gave it to you, ‘This is normal stuff just use it like you normally would,’ and that’s what happened, that’s how you know something is going on, a lot of people overdosing [in] a short period of time,” the police chief said.
Connolly said six overdoses in one weekend is the most he’s ever seen in Sanford.
He said they are working with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency to get the drugs off the street.