A flood of fentanyl: How Augusta is responding

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – One of the most dangerous drugs continues to poison our area, stealing lives and destroying families.

In the month of June alone, investigators say they took nearly 60 pounds of drugs off the streets, including eight pounds of fentanyl.

In 2021, deputies recovered five pounds of fentanyl in the county–a number that’s grown by the year, with seven pounds in 2022 and 16 in 2023.

We are still waiting on recent data for 2024 and 2025, but the numbers we have support what law enforcement tells us – it’s not the first time they’ve seized fentanyl, and it will not be the last.

“It’s flooded,” said Investigator Erik Williams, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit. “Every street drug known has fentanyl in it now.”

During a drug bust last month, deputies say they seized enough fentanyl to potentially kill nearly 330,000 people — which is enough to endanger the entire population of Richmond County.

“Frightening as this is, you can get your cell phone and you can say how to buy fentanyl, and Chinese companies will come up. You can have it delivered to your house,” said Williams.

Williams says it’s a challenging substance to control.

“We start concentrating on the pills, then they come out with the powder. So now we gotta combat that. Now they have a liquid, so it’s constantly changing.”

He says even the smallest information can help execute busts like the ones we have seen in recent weeks.

For those struggling with fentanyl addiction, there are also options. Georgia Overdose Prevention is in Harrisburg every Tuesday.

Dolly Neese tells us she once needed those options.

“I was a homeless IV drug user, and I was out here in this very neighborhood, actually,” said Dolly Neese, harm reduction advocate for Georgia Overdose Prevention.

Now, you can find her in that same neighborhood, handing out Narcan, fentanyl test strips and narcan training.

Neese offers knowledge that not everyone has, so she’s here, reaching those on the path she once walked.

“We want to be that bridge for people who want to make changes or maybe want to make changes in the future, so that they do have those resources when they’re ready,” said Neese.

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