Police in Saskatoon say an investigation into organized crime has netted the same type of pills linked to three deaths in the city.
Fourteen people were arrested in raids Wednesday across Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Most of those charged are from Saskatoon, but one person is from Calgary and another is from Vancouver.
Police say they seized drugs, cash and several different drugs, including fentanyl pills.
They say the fentanyl, or counterfeit Oxycontin, has the same chemical composition as the drug responsible for the deaths.
A 19-year-old man died after taking fentanyl earlier this month, and two other men died last September.
Fentanyl is considered much more powerful than heroin and can be lethal, even in small doses. Last year, Vancouver authorities linked 31 overdoses to the drug.
Saskatoon police say their investigation, dubbed Project Forseti, took officers last week to Burnaby, B.C. There they found industrial-style pill presses commonly associated with the production of fentanyl and ecstasy.
"We can see by the pill press and quantity of illegal drugs and other materials seized this was not an amateur operation," said Det. Insp. Jerome Engele.
"It is important for everyone to remember that the only safe medication to take is one prescribed by your physician and purchased from a pharmacy. There is no way to ever guarantee the safety of drugs that are purchased illegally."
