It was a chilly February night in Omaha, but the party in the apartment near 72nd and Grover Streets was just heating up.
Someone pulled out some cocaine. But unbeknownst to the users, the illicit drug was laced with fentanyl, a synthetic drug so powerful that an amount small enough to fit on a pencil tip can be enough to kill.
When Fire Department medics were later called to the apartment, they found four overdose victims sprawled inside.
The medics were able to revive two and rush them to hospitals. But two others — both women in their 30s — were pronounced dead at the scene, adding to a grim recent toll.
Law enforcement officials here and nationally say fentanyl has been fueling an epidemic of drug overdose deaths.
Through the first six months of this year, there were at least 26 overdose fatalities in Omaha, including 11 during the month of February alone.
