Rochester Police believe a string of overdose deaths in recent days was likely the result of drugs laced with fentanyl.
The latest discovery was early Tuesday morning when officers responded to an apartment near Silver Lake in northeast Rochester. There, they found two women and one man dead on the floor from suspected overdoses.
The department has now recorded five overdoses since June 13, a striking number for a city that recorded four overdose deaths in all of 2024.
In all five deaths, police say the preliminary investigation shows that narcotics containing fentanyl may have been contributing factors.
“These tragic deaths are a stark reminder of the potential consequences of illegal narcotics,” Rochester Chief of Police Jim Franklin said in a statement.
Franklin said Rochester police are now actively working to identify and arrest those responsible for distributing the drugs.
In recent years, synthetic opioids like fentanyl have become the primary driver of overdose deaths in Minnesota.
The state now records about a thousand opioid-related overdose deaths a year, up 186% from 2018, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Of those deaths, about 90% are linked to fentanyl.
