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SARATOGA SPRINGS — Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller that is 50 times as powerful as heroin, was found on surfaces inside a home that police raided before dawn on Friday, State Police said.
Captain Robert Patnaude said the potentially lethal powder was not being manufactured inside 16 Cherry St., but was being mixed into heroin that was being sold.
Firearms were taken from the home, police said.
Police searching a home on Cherry Street left the building and called in a hazardous materials team after they found an unknown white powder surfaces in the home, police said.
Two men are in custody but no charges have been filed so far, police said at 12:30 p.m.
Lt. Bob Jillson, a spokesman for the city police department, said a State Police “contaminated” crime scene team going through the home. For hours, officials in protective suits have been at the scene.
“We didn’t know what we were getting into as far as what the substance was,” Jillson said.
During the narcotics raid, “there were things we didn’t anticipate coming across,” @SSPDNY Lt. Bob Jillson said. VIDEO: pic.twitter.com/nKBe6cpFex
Jillson said authorities suspect the powder is some kind of narcotic, possibly a synthetic drug.
Jillson spoke to reporters about the pre-dawn raid, saying “there were things we didn’t anticipate coming across.”
Police went to a home at 16 Cherry St. early Friday to search the property, but the situation quickly turned into a hazardous material scene.
Fire trucks and other heavy equipment was brought to the scene as police began their examination of the building.
Authorities erected a tent across from the home and people in hazardous-materials suits can been seen near the home.
#saratoga police, county hazmat & FD on scene at 16 Cherry St. pic.twitter.com/qlEGskOEGi
Police are not yet saying what they’ve found at the home. Part of Cherry Street is closed.
pic.twitter.com/BlHMajCyQi
“This is not a search warrant gone bad. At the end of the day it will be a search warrant gone good,” Jillson said.
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