The deaths of five people whose bodies were found Sunday afternoon in a Commerce City apartment appeared to be fentanyl-related, according to 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason.

Mason told the Denver Gazette Monday that early evidence at the scene suggests the deceased thought they were taking cocaine when it was actually fentanyl, which is an unpredictable and powerful synthetic painkiller blamed for driving an increase in fatal drug overdoses. He said the drug has been found laced in cocaine, heroin, meth, OxyContin and in limited cases marijuana.

“Fentanyl is ravaging our community right now,” Mason said. “Drug dealers and the drug cartels are lacing these other drugs with fentanyl because it’s cheaper for them to do that and then it gets more people addicted. It’s part of their business model.”

A release from the Commerce City Police Department says narcotics that detectives recovered in the apartment had a “presumptive positive test result for the presence of fentanyl.”

Officers and first responders reported just before 4 p.m. Sunday to North Range Crossings Apartments at 14480 East 104th Ave in Commerce City in response to a call about several unconscious adults. They found five dead adults inside a home, police said.

Among the dead were three white women ages 28, 29 and 32 and two Hispanic men ages 24 and 32. The Adams County Coroner’s Office will release their identities.

“This is the nightmare scenario. This is five people dying without realizing the drug they’re putting into their bodies,” Mason said. “If our theory is correct, they didn’t realize that they were ingesting fentanyl.

“The scene was like a mass homicide scene. These folks dropped to the ground almost instantly after taking the drug. They didn’t have time to call for help. They didn’t have the ability to help each other. That’s how lethal and how quick and how dangerous this drug is.”

A 29-year-old Hispanic woman and an infant, believed to be about four months old, were also found and were in good condition. Both were taken to the hospital, and while the woman is still being treated, the infant was released. Child Protection Services is assisting as well.

Criminal activity and violence have been ruled out, and a test for hazardous gas, performed by firefighters, came back negative.

The DA’s office is continuing to work with the Commerce City Police Department and the North Metro Drug Task Force on early investigations.

“We want to get to the bottom of what happened, but it is very challenging to build a criminal case with these types of cases,” Mason said. “We can’t interview those five people. They’re gone, and so we can’t ask them where the drugs came from or who the dealer was. Nor can we then go warn the other people who may have gotten drugs from that dealer to make sure that they don’t make the same tragic mistake.”

Mason said investigators will want to talk to anyone who could have information about what may have happened.

Preliminary figures from the state Department of Public Health and Environment showed fentanyl was involved in more overdose deaths in 2021 than in any previous year, outpacing the combined totals from 2015 to 2019.

Fentanyl played a role in 643 of 2021’s known fatal overdoses, accounting for about half of the state’s overdose deaths. Even with the limited data that’s available, fentanyl’s lethal role is already more prominent than in the entirety of 2020, when the synthetic opioid contributed to 534 deaths. In 2015, for comparison, 41 overdose deaths involved fentanyl.

During a meeting with The Gazette’s editorial board last week, Dr. Vikhyat “Vik” Bebarta, an emergency physician, medical toxicologist and professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, said “We’re seeing a major increase in fentanyl-related doses, overdoses and deaths specifically, which is by far the majority of all the deaths around drug overdoses in Colorado and across the country.”

Gazette reporters Erin Prater and Chhun Sun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The deaths of five people whose bodies were found Sunday afternoon in a Commerce City apartment appeared to be fentanyl-related, according to 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason.

Mason told The Denver Gazette Monday that early evidence at the scene suggests the deceased thought they were taking cocaine when it was actually fentanyl, which is an unpredictable and powerful synthetic painkiller blamed for driving an increase in fatal drug overdoses. He said the drug has been found laced in cocaine, heroin, meth, OxyContin and in limited cases marijuana.

“Fentanyl is ravaging our community right now,” Mason said. “Drug dealers and the drug cartels are lacing these other drugs with fentanyl because it’s cheaper for them to do that and then it gets more people addicted. It’s part of their business model.”

A release from the Commerce City Police Department says narcotics that detectives recovered in the apartment had a “presumptive positive test result for the presence of fentanyl.”

Officers and first responders reported just before 4 p.m. Sunday to North Range Crossings Apartments at 14480 East 104th Ave in Commerce City in response to a call about several unconscious adults. They found five dead adults inside a home, police said.

Among the dead were three white women ages 28, 29 and 32 and two Hispanic men ages 24 and 32.

“This is the nightmare scenario. This is five people dying without realizing the drug they’re putting into their bodies,” Mason said. “If our theory is correct, they didn’t realize that they were ingesting fentanyl.

“The scene was like a mass homicide scene. These folks dropped to the ground almost instantly after taking the drug. They didn’t have time to call for help. They didn’t have the ability to help each other. That’s how lethal and how quick and how dangerous this drug is.”

A 29-year-old Hispanic woman and an infant, believed to be about 4 months old, were also found and were in good condition. Both were taken to the hospital, and while the woman is still being treated, the infant was released. Child Protection Services is assisting.

Criminal activity and violence have been ruled out, and a test for hazardous gas, performed by firefighters, came back negative.

The DA’s office is continuing to work with the Commerce City Police Department and the North Metro Drug Task Force on early investigations.

“We want to get to the bottom of what happened, but it is very challenging to build a criminal case with these types of cases,” Mason said. “We can’t interview those five people. They’re gone, and so we can’t ask them where the drugs came from or who the dealer was. Nor can we then go warn the other people who may have gotten drugs from that dealer to make sure that they don’t make the same tragic mistake.”

Mason said investigators will want to talk to anyone who could have information about what may have happened.

Preliminary figures from the state Department of Public Health and Environment showed fentanyl was involved in more overdose deaths in 2021 than in any previous year, outpacing the combined totals from 2015 to 2019.

Fentanyl played a role in 643 of 2021’s known fatal overdoses, accounting for about half of the state’s overdose deaths. Even with the limited data that’s available, fentanyl’s lethal role is already more prominent than in the entirety of 2020, when the synthetic opioid contributed to 534 deaths. In 2015, for comparison, 41 overdose deaths involved fentanyl.

During a meeting with The Gazette’s editorial board last week, Dr. Vikhyat “Vik” Bebarta, an emergency physician, medical toxicologist and professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, said “We’re seeing a major increase in fentanyl-related doses, overdoses and deaths specifically, which is by far the majority of all the deaths around drug overdoses in Colorado and across the country.”

Gazette reporters Erin Prater and Chhun Sun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.