SALT LAKE CITY — The new man in charge of the Salt Lake's FBI office is warning everyone out there about a new form of fentanyl.
Robert Bohls is now the special agent in charge (SAC) at the SLC FBI. He’s actually from the area and cut his teeth in law enforcement working for a drug task force in Utah County.
Even though the FBI typically isn’t in the drug enforcement business, Bohls says fentanyl is still posing problems for the different task force groups his agents are involved with.
In particular, there's a case where they were working with the Wasatch Metro drug task force late last year. Bohls calls it a disturbing find.
“Because of a recent seizure that we made of green fentanyl, which is even more potent than normal fentanyl, and it can be made to look like candy, in fact," he said.
Bohls says it’s the first time he’s aware of that this strain of synthetic opiate has been seized in Utah.
“They were able to intercept this load coming in. It was coming in for our community," he said. "It was a kilo of green — they call it 'kryptonite' fentanyl.”
He says that’s especially concerning because fentanyl seizures in Utah are up dramatically, rom just under 2 million pills seized in 2024 to nearly 18 million last year.
Bohls says all of law enforcement is trying to stop it.
“Families are devastated by addiction, communities are devastated by the crime that occurs because of it, and it really causes a lot of damage to our community," he said.
But there is some good news in Utah in the fight against fentanyl and other opiate-based narcotics, according to Bill Newell.
“We’re down about 9.4% in opioid related fatal drug deaths," said Newell, the statewide coordinator for the Utah Fentanyl Task Force. "We hope to continue that… I think it is trending downward, and I think a lot of it is due to awareness.”
That, and making use of tools like Narcan and naloxone.
Newell, who retired from the U.S. Department of Justice, says the focus needs to be on saving lives and recovery.
“So let’s not judge people — let’s save a life first," he said. "Using Narcan, naloxone, let’s save a life and then get that person into some sort of substance abuse recovery, addiction treatment.”
