Fentanyl suspected in inmate overdoses at Santa Clara County jail

The Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose was briefly placed on lockdown Wednesday after four inmates overdosed, possibly on the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, authorities said.

“Based on a totality of the circumstances, we highly suspect the ingested substance to contain fentanyl,” said Sgt. Rich Glennon, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

Fentanyl is 25 to 50 times more potent than heroin and can be lethal even at very low doses, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Glennon added that though the nature of the substance has not yet been confirmed, witness statements and treatment provided to the inmates suggest fentanyl was involved.

Last week, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office announced it would be the first law-enforcement agency in California whose K-9 units would start carrying kits with Narcan, a drug that stops overdoses by blocking opioid receptors.