TULALIP, Wash. — The Tulalip Tribal Police Department is issuing a warning about rainbow fentanyl. A narcotics investigation this week uncovered more than 50 multi-colored pills.
"This was new to Tulalip,” said Police Chief Chris Sutter. "A person brought the pills onto the reservation; a non-tribal member."
"We have seen the rainbow pills where they are a solid color, but not multiple colors,” said Detective Haison Duong. "I'd say that it is so appealing and so colorful that it is going to appeal to children, that was my first thought."
Detective Duong is with the Tulalip Drug Task Force, and he said more commonly they see fentanyl in solid blue form. The drug is having a deadly impact on the community and across Snohomish County.
"The rate was decreasing until this year. It seems to have picked back up,” said Nicole Krueger, the operations manager at the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s office.
Krueger said so far this year, there have been 172 confirmed fentanyl-related deaths. The county is on track to surpass the 180 fentanyl-related deaths reported last year.
"If we have a week where we don't see a fentanyl death it would be very weird. It is something we are seeing all of the time,” said Krueger. "It is just easy to make and easy to get and it is just the perfect terrible storm because it is such a potent and deadly drug."
At the Tulalip Tribal Police Department, investigations are turning up pills.
“We are finding them inside vehicles, on floorboards, under the seats, in child's car seats. When we are searching houses, we are seeing them under the couch,” said Duong.
"We are seeing an uptick in fentanyl-related deaths and overdoses,” said Chief Sutter.
The police department is highlighting the importance of keeping the drug away from children, noting that last year in Washington state there were 36 child deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
The Washington Recovery Helpline at 1-866-789-1511 is a 24-hour helpline for substance use.