100 Bags of Fentanyl Found in Teen's Bedroom After Overdose as Police Warn of the Drug's Dangers

A 13-year-old boy died on Jan. 15 after overdosing on fentanyl at his Connecticut middle school

Fentanyl. Photo: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty

Police found 100 bags of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that's up to 100 times stronger than morphine — in a Connecticut teen's bedroom after he died on Jan. 15 from a drug overdose as authorities warn about the opioid's effects.

The discovery was made by the Hartford Police Department, who had executed a search warrant at the home of the 13-year-old boy, who has not been publicly identified, according to CBS News.

Authorities also collected 40 bags of the opioid at the Sports and Medical Science Academy in Hartford, Connecticut where the seventh-grade student collapsed in the school gymnasium.

"This fentanyl was packaged in the same manner as the bags located at the school, had the same identifying stamp and tested at an even higher purity level," Hartford police said in statement, obtained by New York Post. "We can confidently say that the fentanyl that caused the overdose was the same fentanyl that was located in the juvenile's bedroom."

The Drug Enforcement Agency determined that the bags had an extremely high purity level at 58 to 60%. According to Hartford police sergeant Chris Mastroianni, a bag of fentanyl normally tests around 2% pure per bag.

"The powder substance that was inside that bag, 58% of that was fentanyl as opposed to on average 2%," he told NBC Connecticut. "So that becomes you know, a very, very dangerous product, very deadly product, especially for a child weighing, you know, most kids at that age under 100 pounds. Very dangerous."

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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says a fatal dose of fentanyl is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil. It is now the leading cause of overdose deaths, along with other synthetic opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Two classmates were also hospitalized after being sickened by exposure to the drug.

Police believe the teen was one to bring the opioids to the school. An "individual who has history at the residence" and narcotics history is a person of interest in the case, according to ABC News.

The teen's mother has fully cooperative with the investigation and police believe she had no prior knowledge of her child's possession of fentanyl, USA Today reports.

Mastroianni has begun giving presentations to parents and teachers about the drug in light of the tragedy.

He told the NBC affiliate that fentanyl — a Schedule II prescription drug used to treat patients suffering from severe pain after surgery — is often packaged in very small bags, similar to the size of a gum wrapper, making it difficult for people to find. It costs $2 to $3 per bag, but most are sold in bundles of 10.

"It's very small, it's very easily concealed. And then it could be right in front of you and you won't even know it," said Mastroianni, who has been showing pictures of the products during the presentations.