‘W-18,’ described as 100 times more potent than fentanyl, found in Lower Mainland

DELTA (NEWS 1130) – The powerful and dangerous street drug W-18 has shown up in the Lower Mainland. It’s considered far more powerful than fentanyl, which has prompted a public health emergency by the BC government.

Tests from an illegal drug lab bust at three Lower Mainland locations back in March have come back positive for W-18.

Delta Police Sergeant Sarah Swallow says search warrants were executed in Burnaby, Surrey, and Richmond.

“A fentanyl processing lab was uncovered. Since that time, a number of the exhibits that were seized have been sent off to the lab for testing… A number of the items seized were actually the… synthetic opioid W-18.”

She tells us this is the first time she’s seen the drug in our area. “I think the last bust I saw was a couple in Alberta. So, it certainly seems that it’s now present in the Lower Mainland.”

LISTEN: Delta Police Sergeant Sarah Swallow speaks to NEWS 1130 about the discovery of W-18 in the Lower Mainland

W-18 is a synthetic opioid that was originally developed as a pain reliever in the 1980s but was never marketed commercially. Swallow points out Health Canada has described W-18 as 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which in turn is described more potent than heroin.

“Drug dealers are taking this W-18 compound and they’re not selling it as W-18 — they’re selling it as heroin… What that means for users is they maybe have a tolerance to heroin, but they’re not used to this product, which is incredibly deadly in very small doses.”

“Users are ingesting doses that they don’t expect to take — and overdosing, as a result,” she adds.

Swallow tells us W-18 often goes unnoticed. “You can’t tell that it is that substance by taste, by smell, or by looking at it.”

“What these dealers are doing is they are cutting it with another product… dying it, adding a scent to it, and selling it to users as heroin.”

She admits police are not sure from where W-18 is coming into the region. “And I’m not sure if that’s something that our investigators will be able to figure out, right away.”

“We’d always prefer people didn’t use drugs, but we accept that people do. What we want to get out there is advice. Don’t use alone and only take a small bit of whatever it is you are using,” she adds.

Swallow emphasizes that police don’t want people to be afraid to call 9-1-1. “If they are drug users and they do believe something is going wrong, please call 9-1-1 and get medical help.”

The seizures from the illegal labs were done more than two months before W-18 was made illegal on June 1st.

“It’ll be interesting to see where the courts go with this one because W-18 is now illegal, however this seizure and these arrests were made prior to it being a controlled substance,” says Swallow.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the Delta Police investigation.

Scott Pipping, 35, of Surrey and Adam Summers, 27, from Delta are facing over 20 charges and are still being held in custody. Three others have also been arrested for various offences including trafficking in a controlled substance — with charges against them pending.

NEWS 1130’s Jill Drews joined anchors Jim Bennie and Amanda Wawryk to talk about the topic. You can hear the interview below.