Colorado authorities shut down pill press operation on National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day

The Denver Police Department announced that officers shut down a pill press operation on Wednesday which is marked as National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day.

According to DPD, the operation was shut down Wednesday morning when officers with the Denver Police Major Narcotics Unit along with the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office SWAT team executed a search warrant at a home in the 4100 block of South Kirk Court in Arapahoe County. 

The search warrant was related to a months-long investigation that DPD facilitated as authorities looked into an illicit fentanyl pill production and distribution operation. 

In the search, investigators discovered a fentanyl pill press operation and recovered materials that preliminarily tested positive for fentanyl, which was seized by authorities.

DPD says four adults were contacted at the home, but there are no arrests to report, while the investigation remains ongoing currently. 

South Metro Fire Rescue also responded to the residence to assist with a hazmat component of the incident.

According to DPD, last year, more than 74,000 people in the U.S. lost their lives due to overdose deaths that involved fentanyl. In Denver, there were 598 total deaths involving drugs with 389 of those deaths involving fentanyl in 2023.