Santa Cruz Co. deputies warn about fake Xanax

A counterfeit pill is circulating on streets of Santa Cruz County and the Sheriff’s Department wants to warn the public about the deadly pill.

“Three people who have been affected by this street level drug, well what we believe to be the street level drug, two of them have passed away, one from Watsonville and one from Aptos,” said Lt. Kelly Kent of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities said the street pill is being sold as a counterfeit version of Xanax, generically known as Alprazolam usually prescribed for anxiety or as a sleep aid.

“The problem with these pills is they don’t contain Alprazolam, they contain Fentanyl which is a powerful opiate type drug so it’s used as a pain killer. It’s not designed to be taken orally by mouth. So it’ll make them go to sleep and die from respiratory depression,” said Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Stephany Fiore.

The fake Xanax that killed a 29 year old Aptos man last week was found in an over the counter medicine bottle. Authorities say the man believed it was a Xanax but the coroner’s office said if you look closely at the pill, you find red flags.

“To me the pill doesn’t appear to be completely symmetrical and then if you look close the edges or the lines on the pill itself don’t appear to be the same,” said Sgt. Roy Morales.

It’s not certain how many pills were taken by the two men in Santa Cruz County. San Francisco has confirmed three similar overdose deaths related to the phony street Xanax.

“We wanted to get the word out to everybody, to let them know, hey be careful where you get your medication from. Make sure you go to a licensed pharmacist,” said Lt. Kent.

As far as where the counterfeit pills are coming from, that’s still under investigation.