A question I’ve had several times is whether a magistrate may find probable cause for a drug offense involving a white powder without a field test. The answer to that question is yes, so long as the totality of the circumstances provides reason to believe that the powder in question is a controlled substance...
Fentanyl may present as a white powder and so may be visually indistinguishable from other substances, controlled or otherwise, that have a similar appearance. One way to identify a substance that an officer suspects is controlled is to perform a field test. However, authorities have warned law enforcement officers and other first responders of the dangers of handling fentanyl and related substances...
In keeping with this advice, a number of agencies in North Carolina and elsewhere have stopped field testing white powders...Often the surrounding circumstances will permit an inference about the identity of a substance that is sufficient at the probable cause stage.