VIDEO: Fentanyl is taking a deadly toll in North Carolina.
According to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, last year alone, 3,340 people in North Carolina died with fentanyl in their system.
Because the drug is so powerful and potentially deadly, many law enforcement agencies in central North Carolina say their drug-detecting K-9s are not trained to sniff it out. That’s changing though, and CBS 17 got a first-hand look at how a local K-9 trainer is teaching law enforcement teams to find fentanyl and get it off the streets.
Inside a Harnett County training facility, Ken Mathias teaches law enforcement K-9s and handlers to work together to find drugs. Sergeant Chris Collins and his K-9 partner, Spike, work for the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office.