By Aaron Vitatoe | KKTV
LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – A suspected attempted drugging involving fentanyl forced the cancellation of a Burning Man event in southern Colorado.
Apogaea is a Burning Man-sanctioned event held every June in Colorado, according to their website. Over the weekend, they were set to hold their event in Las Animas County near Trinidad. As the weekend kicked off, though the Apogaea Board of Directors instructed everyone to leave the event, and asked anyone on the way to turn around, for safety reasons.
On Sunday, they confirmed the reason for the cancellation was suspected non-consensual drugging involving fentanyl. They said, luckily, no one was dosed or physically harmed at the event, and no one needed medical attention.
According to a post on Facebook, the ordeal began on Thursday when two participants went to a tent to report they had been gifted a substance that tested positive for fentanyl. After the report, Apogaea organizers said a volunteer notified their Incident Command System, which alerted the county emergency coordinator. Organizers clarified they never had custody of the substance and didn’t test it themselves.
On Friday morning, organizers said a participant noted an undissolved gelcap in their clear water bottle, which tested positive for fentanyl via two strip tests. Organizers of the event said this was found on volunteer premises, prompting concern someone might have been targeting volunteers.
Apogaea organizers said they ran multiple more tests and found the gelcap tested positive for several substances, but didn’t specify what those substances were.
“With the presence of the gelcap reagent tests and the multiple positive fentanyl results, our teams had a high confidence that this was a situation of non-consensual drugging,” organizers said on Facebook.
They said they dumped the community water in the nearby Center Camp Cafe and Ranger Station as a precaution. Working with the county, organizers said they activated their Emergency Response at 3:45 p.m. on Friday and decided to close the event.