Drug intelligence officers working for HIDTA, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area for New Mexico, have issued an alert about unusual overdose activity in Las Cruces and Dona Ana County that has seen seven reported overdoses – two of them fatal – since Sunday.
Both overdoses that proved to be fatal occurred within Las Cruces city limits and appear to be unrelated. They claimed the lives of a 30-year-old man and a 26-year-old man.
So far in August 2025, HIDTA has learned of 21 overdoses with five being fatal in Dona Ana County. The majority of those cases have been in Las Cruces.
“At this point we have not received any drug test results, but fentanyl was the suspected drug in most of these cases,” said Kevin Renn, Drug Intelligence Officer for New Mexico HIDTA. “This is very unusual for Dona Ana County.
“We’ve also received reports from the New Mexico Crime Lab that carfentanil has been showing up in the drug supply, so it may be related to these overdoses.”
Carfentanil is an incredibly potent synthetic opioid that was originally designed for use as a tranquilizer for large animals, like elephants. Carfentanil is not approved for human consumption.
Carfentanil is estimated to be 10,000 times more potent that morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The high degree of potency of carfentanil makes it extremely easy to overdose on, even with minimal exposure.
Narcan was administered to no avail in the two unrelated fatal incidents that occurred since Sunday in Las Cruces. Police warn against the use and handling of any illegal drugs.
New Mexico HIDTA agents provide assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies within the state.
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