Heroin package creates hazmat scare in Fayetteville

Two Fayetteville women were taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center on Monday afternoon after ingesting heroin laced with fentanyl that arrived in a mailed package, authorities said.

Authorities received a 911 call at about 3 p.m. about the women losing consciousness at 6433 Wilson Ave. after receiving the package, and the Fayetteville Fire Department dispatched its hazmat team to what was believed to be a contamination incident.

The hazmat team decontaminated the women before paramedics took them to the hospital, and the team also decontaminated two children and a man who were at the house.

The hazmat team also isolated the package until authorities could identify what was inside.

Shortly after 5 p.m., authorities said they determined the women had been expecting the package and that it contained the powerful narcotic. Investigators said the fentanyl in the heroin made the drug 50 times more powerful as plain heroin.

There was no word on the women's condition.