LOWELL — The deadly heroin linked to four fatal overdoses in the city in the past month was mixed with a high percentage of pure opium, Massachusetts State Police crime lab tests revealed yesterday.
“This is really startling and very concerning,” said Lowell police Capt. Robert DeMoura, adding that, as far as he knows, this lethal mix has not been seen in the city in the past.
Heroin is an opium derivative, processed from morphine, which is extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of the poppy plant.
DeMoura said it is likely that the overdoses occurred because the drug was several times more potent than the victims were used to injecting.
Pure heroin can be lethal and is often “cut” with other drugs or with other substances such as sugar, starch, powered milk or quinine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Web site.
Lowell police had expected lab results to confirm that the drug had been cut with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate that is about 80 times more potent than morphine and was blamed for hundreds of deaths in several Midwestern U.S. cities this summer.
On Nov. 16, Lowell police arrested Luis Michael, 36, of Chelsea and Crystal Abraham, whose address is unknown, on charges of conspiracy to violate drug laws and possession of heroin with intent to distribute.
Police are investigating whether the pair is responsible for selling the deadly heroin.
Overdose deaths linked to the lethal drug include: a 27-year-old on Oct. 24 at 657 Merrimack St., in the downtown section; a 41-year-old woman on Nov. 3 at 25 Mount Grove St., in the Pawtucketville section; a 45-year-old male on Nov. 4 at 95 Westford St., in the Lower Highlands; and a 45-year-old man on Nov. 14 at 12 7th. St., in the Centralville section.
Additionally, Lowell police have seen a spike in nonfatal, medical overdoses in the past month, responding to two dozen.
Jennifer Amy Myers’ e-mail address is jmyers@lowellsun.com.
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