Two Grand Forks men face drug trafficking charges after police made arrests in response to a suspected drug overdose Wednesday.
Officers with the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force went to the residence of Blake Allen Holien, 24, in the 1900 block of 17th Avenue South Wednesday afternoon as a follow-up to the suspected overdose, according to an affidavit filed Friday in district court.
The suspected overdose was not fatal, police told the Herald.
Holien consented to a search of his room, where officers say they found 8 grams of fentanyl, a powerful opioid that has been linked to overdoses in the Red River Valley and across the U.S.
Officers conducted a field test of the substance which indicated it was fentanyl. Eight grams of Fentanyl is enough for 80 individual doses, police say.
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The search also revealed unsanctioned prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Through Holien, officers arranged to purchase more fentanyl from Jereme Sean Sorteberg, 24, court documents state. Sorteberg agreed to meet Holien in the parking lot of Sharon Lutheran Church, 1720 S. 20th St., where officers intercepted him and found him in possession of two bindles of what field-tested as heroin.
A bindle is typically a 10th of a gram, or an individual dosage.
Holien has been charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to deliver, a Class A felony; possession of a controlled substance, a Class C felony; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. His initial appearance is scheduled for May 1.
Sorteberg has been charged with possession of heroin with intent to deliver, a Class A felony; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. He made his initial court appearance Friday afternoon.
