A resident found a small bag of pills on the playground at Two Rivers Village in Dotsero Wednesday that local authorities say could contain an extremely potent and potentially deadly opiate called Fentanyl.

The Dotsero resident reported the incident to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office just before noon on Wednesday, according to a news release issued Thursday.

The pills were found in a small Ziplock bag with the number “210” printed in bold black print on the front of the bag.

It contained eight tablets with markings similar to those imprinted on “Oxycodone Hydrochloride” tablets, according to the release. Oxycodone is an opioid pain medication.

The tablets are stamped with a square with an “M” on one side and a “30” with a line below it on the other side. The markings are similar to blue “M30” pills that are made to look like Oxycodone but may be mixed with Fentanyl, according to the news release.

This caused Sheriff’s deputies to suspect that the pills may contain fentanyl. The Gore Range Narcotic Interdiction Team, Eagle County’s drug task force, worked to secure the evidence and plans to send the pills to a lab for analysis.

Fentanyl is a highly lethal synthetic opioid that is “often manufactured in clandestine labs and sold on the black market,” according to the release. The drug is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine, meaning it is also highly addictive.

The substance is often added to counterfeit medications, sometimes unbeknownst to the user, according to the release.

“We would like to remind the community that any type of medication that is left unattended or found could have potentially deadly consequences, especially when discovered by children or persons who might attempt to ingest it,” a representative of the Sheriff’s Office stated in the release. “We are grateful to the community member who contacted us and it is our hope that anytime an unknown substance is found that it will be reported to local authorities.”

Anyone with information about the pills, their origin, potential suspects, or this type of activity, can call the Eagle County Sheriff Office at (970) 328-8500. To remain anonymous, call the Eagle County Crime Stoppers at 970-328-7007 or 1-800-972-TIPS. You can also submit your tip online at http://www.p3tips.com or send a mobile tip using the free ‘P3 Tips’ mobile app.