Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Aug. 16, 2025 – Jonesboro radio personality Jim Frigo struck it rich Friday when he was walking back to the Jonesboro Media Group facility through a downtown parking lot.
“I was walking through the lot when I looked down and spotted a one-hundred-dollar bill,” Frigo said. “I bent down to pick it up when I spotted two more. Then three more.”
Frigo said he looked up and there were bills scattered all over the parking lot. By the time he picked all of the bills up he had collected what he thought was $5,000 cash.
“I wasn’t sure what was going on or where the bills came from,” Frigo said. “I was literally shaking I was so nervous.”
As Frigo finished collecting the money his colleague Christie Matthews walked up and examined the money.
“As soon as I saw the bills I noticed there was writing on the bill FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES,” Matthews said. “I gotta tell ya though, that money looked real at first glance.”
Frigo called E-911. A Jonesboro Police officer responded and collected the fake money. The first worry was that the money might be passed to area retailers as counterfeit. “Business owners should be vigilant in case someone tries to pass this off as real money and it makes it into your cash drawer.”
After the excitement of the moment passed, however, there was a different kind of worry. The worry that the fake money could have been intentionally laced with fentanyl or some other drug or chemical. It doesn’t appear that it was, but it stirred a “what if?” discussion.
In July a Berkeley County, South Carolina deputy collapsed after coming into contact with a fentanyl-like substance during a routine traffic stop. Body cam video of the incident showed the deputy being administered Narcan after touching an unknown substance on a dollar bill, which was later tested for fentanyl.
In the illicit drug world, there are stronger variants of fentanyl including carfentanil.
“Carfentanil is about a hundred times more potent than fentanyl,” said Ed Johnson, a board member of Faces and Voices of the Lowcountry, a group focusing on illegal drugs. “It can be absorbed through the skin.” Johnson explained that Carfentanil was originally developed as a veterinary tranquilizer for elephants, emphasizing its potency and the risk of skin absorption.
Jonesboro Police are aware of the dangers of exposure to fentanyl.
“We train and provide gloves when officers handle evidence or are performing searches,” said Sally Smith, Jonesboro Police public information official. “We also carry two doses of Narcan in case of any exposures by officers and persons overdosing.”
Smith said JPD has not had any recent exposures handling money.
“We did have an officer suffer a possible exposure during a search,” Smith said. “He was taken to the hospital as a precaution but was ok.”
The Craighead County Sheriff’s Department is also sensitive to the possibility of exposure.
“We have some deputies and officers in our area that had reactions to fentanyl,” said Sheriff Marty Boyd. “I’m not aware of any exposure from money.”
