Edmonton police seize opioids disguised as Xanax

Edmonton Police Service say officers intercepted a package last month containing hundreds of pills that look like Xanax made of a highly potent opioid.

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is warning the public to not purchase medications that are not prescribed to them after seizing $5,000 worth of fake anti-anxiety pills that were actually synthetic opioids.

According to a media release by EPS on Monday, officers intercepted a package on June 19 that contained “several hundred pills” of what appeared to be Xanax, a common anti-anxiety medication prescribed by doctors.

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A sample of those pills were sent to Health Canada for drug testing, where they confirmed the pills were made of a synthetic opioid called isotonitazene. Police say it is “highly potent.”

In a statement issued Tuesday, EPS said the pills were grey, rectangular-shaped and imprinted with “ONAX” on one side of the pill and the number “2” on the other side.

Sgt. Marco Antonio with EPS’ drug and gang enforcement team said that these pills are “extremely concerning.”

“Unfortunately, the seizure of these pills is another example of how drug traffickers are manufacturing an array of synthetic opioid variants that can easily be portrayed as other medications,” he said in the release.

Police are reminding Edmontonians that any medication not prescribed to a patient by a medical professional is not safe to ingest and can “pose significant risk to health and safety.”