A Vineyard Haven man was arrested and charged this week for distributing fentanyl on the Island after police investigated a fatal overdose in Vineyard Haven.

Jason Willoughby, 32, of Vineyard Haven was arraigned on Feb. 6 on a charge of possessing to distribute a class B drug (fentanyl). Bail was set at $10,000.

According to documents filed in court, Tisbury police officers responded to a home on Greenwood avenue in Vineyard Haven in the early morning on Feb. 6 after a report of a possible drug overdose.

Police said a woman who is not being identified was found dead at the home. According to the report, a relative of Mr. Willoughby told police that he had picked Mr. Willoughby up from the Patriot ferry in Oak Bluffs on the evening of Feb. 5. The relative said Mr. Willoughby had allegedly picked up about 20 grams of fentanyl off-Island, and the woman who overdosed allegedly purchased fentanyl from Mr. Willoughby.

The relative told police that he used a small amount of fentanyl and it still almost killed him, according to the police report. When he woke up later he found the woman unconscious and not breathing and called police, according to the police report.

Mr. Willoughby has also been involved in a police investigation into a breaking and entering case on East Chop.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is said to be about 80 times as powerful as morphine. It is often mixed with heroin or cocaine, and police believe it has played a role in the rising number of fatal overdoses over the past few recent years.

According to a state report, two in five heroin deaths in the country can be attributed to fentanyl. State officials said it appears that number is higher in Massachusetts. Officials say most fentanyl that contributes to drug overdoses is likely illicitly produced and sold, and not prescription fentanyl.

Mr. Willoughby is scheduled to appear Thursday in Edgartown district court for a pretrial hearing.