Boulder’s Central Park — the home of various gatherings and outdoor activities — found itself as a battleground in the wake of Colorado’s fentanyl crisis.

The Boulder Police Department and Boulder County Drug Task Force on Wednesday made multiple arrests in conjunction with the “large number of overdoses” in the Central Park and Pearl Street Mall, the city said in a press release.

In April, the Denver Gazette reported five overdoses within 36 hours in Boulder, two of which happened directly in the park.

Fentanyl, used legitimately as a medical anesthetic, is a synthetic opioid that has become a dominant player in the illicit market, and it’s increasingly being mixed into other substances. It’s cheaper and produces a stronger, more fleeting “high,” according to experts. But its potency in small quantities makes it unlike any other substance that preceded it in the drug supply, spurring heated debate about how to address it.

Unlike heroin, illicit fentanyl doesn’t need to be grown or cultivated, and it’s not dependent on the weather or seasons. And, like methamphetamine, it can be made year-round and distributed using preexisting drug trafficking routes. Cheaper to produce, it brings in more money in smaller packages.

In Colorado, deaths from fentanyl poisonings rose 69% between 2020 and 2021 — from 540 to 912. The total plateaued in 2022, hitting 920.

There were only 209 drug-related deaths in the state in 2018 before the rise of fentanyl.

Wednesday’s operation arrested eight people in connection to drug sales in the area:

• Michael Caltagirone, 31, on charges of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, paraphernalia; three counts of possession of a controlled substance
• Pelonne Page, 40, on charges of distribution of methamphetamine and paraphernalia
• Megan Clingerman, 23, on charges of controlled substance possession; two counts of obstruction of justice; false reporting; and, two counts of theft
• David Metz, 68, on charges of three failure to appear related to public order crimes
• Leslie Whelchel, 32, and Adrienne Smith, 29, were issued summons for use of a controlled substance; Whelchel was also issued a summons for driving suspended
• Gerald Esparza, 44, on charges of controlled substance distribution and conspiracy; officers also seized 37 fentanyl pills, nearly 19 grams of methamphetamine and cash from Esparza.

The eight man arrested — 21-year-old Yared Scalise — was charged with possession with intent to distribute, along with other charges. Boulder police had arrested him on Aug. 18 for allegedly stabbing someone outside the city’s municipal building, according to a previous press release by the department.

He was released on Aug. 22 on a bond.

Scalise was contacted outside of the municipal building on Wednesday for appearing to be smoking drugs allegedly on a stolen bike and fled the scene, the police said.

Officers found him later at Central Park with a different bike, which the police alleged he stole. He tried to run but officers caught him, the police said, adding he carried 23 grams of fentanyl.

“We’re looking to stop it before it gets any worse,” Dionne Waugh of the Boulder Police Department said. “Our concerns have been the recent number of overdoses in the area and some of the other incidents. That’s why we had the joint operation.”