HALIFAX — Police in Atlantic Canada's largest city are warning the public about the presence of illicit fentanyl.
Police say while Halifax isn't in the grip of the deadly opiod crisis faced by other parts of Canada, officers have found illicit fentanyl six times during drug raids since Jan. 1.
Investigators seized fake oxycodone pills made of fentanyl powder from six homes.
Police say the pills are typically dark green or light blue, and they are manufactured to look authentic by stamping "CDN" on one side of the pill and "80" on the other.
They also say fentanyl can be used to cut cocaine or to make fake crack cocaine, although there have been no lab tests that have confirmed fentanyl in any cocaine seized by police so far.
The Halifax police warning follows one issued Tuesday by RCMP in southern Newfoundland about cocaine containing fentanyl being sold in communities along the Burin Peninsula.