Staff reports 2:24 p.m.
Friday, August 11, 2017 2:21 pm

The phony Oxycodone tablets, left, are brown while the real ones are blue. (Courtesy photos)

New Hampshire State Police today are warning the public that what appears to be counterfeit Oxycodone tablets have been seized that are laced with the deadly opiate fentanyl.

Their Narcotics and Investigations Unit uncovered the disturbing find after seizing large quantities of the tablets during several ongoing drug investigations in the Merrimack County area.

Over the course of the past several weeks, investigators have seized large quantities of tan colored tablets marked M30. The M30 marking is typically found on 30 milligram oxycodone tablets; however the true 30 mg oxycodone tablets are blue, not tan.

The seized tablets were submitted to the state forensic laboratory for analysis, which concluded that the only controlled drug found in the tablets was fentanyl.

The diameter on both the legitimate and counterfeit oxycodone tablets are identical.

Individuals illicitly purchasing tablets believed to be oxycodone may actually be receiving these fentanyl tablets, the press release notes, a situations that could potentially cause an overdose with serious consequences.