DEA issues new warning about fentanyl in rainbow colors

The Drug Enforcement Administration is issuing a new warning regarding fentanyl. Pills are on the streets that look like candy, but it is not. Fentanyl is being sold on the street in colors of the rainbow.

Keith Weis, the head of the Rocky Mountain High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, tells CBS News Colorado, "Rainbow fentanyl is a new way that drug trafficking organizations are producing packaging and introducing it into the community."

Fentanyl had been known as "the blues" or M30s. Now just as dangerous,  the pills look like candy.

The multi-colored pills were recently discovered in Grand Junction.

Weis noted, "It's the first, one of the first confirmed batches of rainbow fentanyl found in Colorado."

Authorities believe it is being marketed by drug cartels to lure young people to the drug.

Just recently Jose Hernandez of Aurora, just 13 years old, died from an overdose of the drug the day after he began school.

Abisaid Hernandez, the boy's uncle expressed his grief following the death, "We would stay with them, change their diapers. they are like my little babies. it really really hurts to lose him. he had his life ahead of him. he had all these amazing ideas."

Flowers, a candle and a photo now serve as memorials to what was a vibrant life. The boy's uncle warns others to keep an eye on the children.

"Be with your kids, keep an eye on them, give them love, 'cause that's what they need."

What kids don't need are dangerous drugs now dressed up as sweets. The rainbow fentanyl is also being distributed in powder and chalk-like art blocks.

The Grand Junction Police Department and the Western Colorado Drug Task Force released this statement to CBS News Colorado: The Grand Junction Police Department (GJPD) and Western Colorado Drug Task Force (WCDTF) are advising the community of the existence of colorful "rainbow fentanyl" pills being distributed in Mesa County. "Rainbow fentanyl" is a new method used by drug cartels to attract children and teens to this highly addictive and potentially deadly drug. Approximately 60,000 fentanyl pills ("blues" and "rainbows") have been seized on the Western Slope in the last two weeks. The Mesa County Coroner's Office confirmed 12 deaths related to illicit fentanyl so far in 2022. This shows a rising trend in fentanyl deaths in Mesa County since 2019 when three related deaths were reported. The GJPD and WCDTF are working with our partners at School District 51 on educating staff, students, and families, and encourages parents to have conversations with their children about the dangers of this drug.