Inside the MSP Crime Lab: New, deadlier drugs posing risks to users, investigators

On the front lines of the opioid epidemic, authorities handling drug cases have to treat every piece of evidence as though it could kill them.

The Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab has been tracking drug trends as they evolve, and data shows new drugs are hitting the streets at an alarming rate. Now, investigators have to assume that every sample may contain carfentanil – deadly upon contact in amounts smaller than a half grain of rice.

At the Mass. State Police crime lab, dealing with these types of substances is a risk forensic scientists face every day -- so much that Narcan kits are everywhere, just in case they have to revive one of their own.

"We certainly do have to have that in the back of our mind and be extremely cautious," said Deborah Rebeiro, Major of the Crime Lab. "I think with the deadliness of the fentanyl, particularly the carfentanil with the very small sample size, it’s alarming to all of us the criticality of being cautious with those substances."

At just one lab location in Sudbury, 10,000 drug cases are processed each year. These days, drug analysts have to use enhanced lab protection just to do their jobs.

"10 years ago we were using only lab coat and gloves, and in some cases we would use the safety glasses," said Albert Elian, Deputy Director for Forensic Chemistry at the State Police Crime Lab.

Now, face masks, goggles, and even disposable sleeves are available in every State Police cruiser. At the crime lab, new ventilation hoods and locked down rooms were put in place to avoid unwanted contact with substances as drug patterns across Massachusetts evolve.

"There is more fentanyl in the street than what used to be," said Elian. "That’s why we treat every case like it’s a carfentanil case."

Between 2015 and 2017, drug samples testing positive for heroin went down nearly 50 percent, but samples testing positive for fentanyl skyrocketed nearly 240 percent during that time period. While Massachusetts remained free of fentanyl's more deadly sister, carfentanil, from 2015 to 2016, 14 samples came into the lab in 2017.

The biggest concern now is that many drug samples are mixed. From 2015 to 2017, samples testing positive for both heroin and either fentanyl or carfentanil went up 194 percent.

So many new synthetic drugs, fentanyl derivatives, and fentanyl analogues have been popping up in the Massachusetts that new legislation was passed this year, allowing authorities to charge criminals for distribution.

Though the lab is working hard to track trends and push through its backlog of cases, the dangers for those on the front lines of the opioid epidemic are ever-growing.

"I think it’s worrisome because we’re always going to the unknown as a police officer," said Rebeiro.

Members of law enforcement aren't the only ones at risk; the data shows the drugs are deadlier than ever before for users. State Police say suspected opioid deaths are up 13 percent over the last two years and that it doesn’t include four big cities like Boston and Worcester, who conduct own death investigations.

MORE: Gov. Baker signs bill expanding addiction support and prevention

Cox Media Group