Times Observer photo Small, blue pills like these, which were reportedly designed to look like authentic M30 Oxycodone tablets but instead contain fentanyl, are suspected in two overdose deaths in Warren County that have occurred in the last week. More than 9 pounds of similar pills were recovered during a traffic stop in Jamestown with an estimated street value of about $1.3 million.

An influx of counterfeit fentanyl pills is suspected to have contributed to two drug overdose deaths in Warren County in the past week.

City of Warren Police Chief Joe Sproveri said in a statement that investigations are underway regarding suspected fentanyl that is circulating in the area.

“The pills are small, blue in color and stamped with the marking ‘M30,'” he said. “These pills are extremely dangerous and are suspected to have caused at least two drug overdose fatalities in Warren County in the past week.”

Sproveri said anyone that observes similar pills should not touch them and call police immediately.

“These pills are being illegally manufactured and pressed into pill form,” he explained.

A Florida woman was busted during a traffic stop with 50,000 to 60,000 such pills earlier this month in Jamestown.

Elina Martinez, 64, of Miami, Fla., is facing a federal charge in connection with the stop.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of New York, Martinez was stopped Dec. 7 on N. Main St. for traffic violations, though the vehicle was being tracked as part of a narcotics investigation in Jamestown. She gave police a Florida driver’s license and car rental paperwork for the vehicle.

Officers found a plastic bag of pills “secreted in (the) battery of the car,” the office said. The pills later tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.

Jamestown Police had estimated the street value of the pills at $500,000; however, federal prosecutors said the fentanyl — designed to look like an authentic M30 Oxycodone tablet — was worth about $1.3 million.

Her arrest occurred the same day that, per The Post-Journal, 19 people were identified as allegedly being involved in a “large scale fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution ring” in Jamestown and the town of Ellicott.

It’s not yet clear whether these incidents are related to the drugs circulating in Warren.

“We’re still working through all that,” Sproveri said. “We have a lot of moving parts to sort out.”

District Attorney Rob Green declined comment, citing “multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies currently investigating this on-going situation.”

Sproveri said that city police are “currently working with partnering agencies in investigating the manufacturing and distribution of these pills. No further information will be released at this time as to not interfere with ongoing investigations.”