three fatal drug overdoses were reported within 24 hours.

12:16 West Australian 0 Comments

West Australian police fear a lethal batch of heroin may have hit Perth's streets after three fatal drug overdoses were reported within 24 hours.

Since 4pm (WST) on Thursday, three men have died due to heroin overdoses, including a 54-year-old businessman who was found dead at his West Perth office, police said.

A 40-year-old was found dead on a freeway overpass in the Perth CBD at about 9pm, while a 31-year-old overdosed in his home at about 10am (WST) on Friday in the northeast Perth suburb of Ashfield.

Police are carrying out toxicology tests as part of the post mortems to determine whether the deaths resulted from a bad batch of heroin cut with other substances to bulk up the quantity, Detective Inspector Alan Morton said.

The heroin could also have been of a much higher purity than usual, he said.

Det Insp Morton said the men did not know each other, and each death was a separate case.

Drug users should be cautioned, he said.

"There's nothing significant about the three of these that set it apart from any other heroin users, so if drug users are thinking they can outsmart or use safely, they can think again," he said on Friday.

"They are playing Russian roulette with their lives."

Det Insp Morton said there was nothing to suggest an increase in heroin use or a spike in the amount of the opiate hitting Perth streets.

Last year police attended 30 suspected deaths due to drug overdoses.

So far this year police have attended 15 deaths.

Eric Dillon from the Drug and Alcohol Office said many users had no idea what was in the heroin they were buying, and the deaths overnight highlighted just how deadly the drug was.

"The reality is that people just don't know what they are getting," he said.

"If people do get into difficulty, they should call an ambulance without delay."