Too early to connect suspected overdose in Cole Harbour to Springhill deaths, RCMP say

RCMP are investigating a third suspected drug-related death in the province in a week.

Const. Dominic Laflamme, a spokesperson for the Mounties, said paramedics and RCMP were called to a home in Cole Harbour at 5:12 p.m. Sunday after someone found a 34-year-old unresponsive male. Attempts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Drug paraphernalia was found at the home and police believe the cause of death was an overdose, but they are waiting for a report from the provincial medical examiner’s office. The investigation is ongoing.

Last Thursday, two men were found dead at two different homes in Springhill, and both are suspected to be cases of drug overdoses.

Police and paramedics were called to one home at 10:41 a.m. and another at 10:45 a.m. The two men, aged 31 and 35, were both declared dead at the scene.

They were found in residences that were a short distance of one another. Part of the police investigation is to determine whether they were together that night or knew one another, or if they may have purchased drugs from the same location or person.

Police are also trying to determine whether the drugs were purchased in the county or somewhere else.

Laflamme said that police are looking at whether there might be a connection between the Springhill and Cole Harbours cases, but “it’s far from Cumberland County so that’s why we’re not sure if it’s related or not,” he said. “It’s too early at this point to know.”

The Cole Harbour incident was the only overdose police were called to on the weekend that he was aware of.

“We’re going to look into it and compare the evidence that we have (from Springhill) and see if it could be related or not,” he said. “We see on social media there are already some people saying it’s a bad batch of dope, but because of the distance we’re not going to (be) sure at this point to be able to link them together.”

Police seized a small quantity of unknown substances in both pill and powder form at one of the Springhill homes, which can be a sign that they may have contained fentanyl. Police are waiting on lab results to confirm that.

In January of this year, Nova Scotia Health issued three warnings about tainted or contaminated drugs in seven days after 11 people overdosed on drugs in four incidents in Halifax and Windsor.

Police say common signs of a drug overdose include slow or absent breathing, blue or grey lips and fingers, dizziness and confusion, severe drowsiness or inability to wake a person up and snoring, choking or gurgling noises.

Anyone with details about any of the deaths or the distribution of illicit drugs in the community is asked to contact RCMP or Crime Stoppers.