A 45-year-old Saskatoon man has been charged with drug trafficking and possession after police said a quantity of drugs, including what is suspected to be the powerful drug carfentanil, were found after being thrown from a speeding vehicle.
According to Ottawa Public Health, carfentanil is an opioid that is about 100 times more toxic than fentanyl and 10,000 times more toxic than morphine.
It is used by veterinarians for very large animals like elephants and not intended for human use.
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Saskatchewan RCMP said in a news release on Aug. 18 that officers tried to stop the vehicle on Highway 16 on Aug. 14, around 7:50 a.m. west of Elstow but it was driven off at high speed.
Police said they saw someone throw a backpack out of his car during the ensuing chase, before finding the vehicle abandoned in a parking lot near Allan.
Two men and a woman were initially arrested, with one man and the woman later released without charges, police said.
Police said the backpack contained about 20 grams of a substance believed to be carfentanil, around 15 tabs of a suspected synthetic opioid, a small amount of methamphetamine, some unknown pills, and drug trafficking paraphernalia.
They said in the release that the substances will be sent to Health Canada for further testing.
The man arrested was charged with dangerous operation of vehicle, fleeing from police, possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of methamphetamine.
The man appeared in Saskatoon Provincial Court on Aug. 15, police said.
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