CNN - Arizona authorities targeting the Sinaloa drug cartel have seized narcotics estimated to be worth more than $13 million, including more than 4.5 million fentanyl pills, 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine & large quantities of heroin, cocaine & fentanyl powder, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The agency said the seizure was the culmination of a 3-year-long investigation during which 150 people had so far been charged.
“The fentanyl seized represents more than 30 million potentially lethal doses,” the DEA said.
Authorities displayed some of the recovered narcotics at a joint news conference Thursday.
“The sample you see here today is staggering. There are over 4.5 million fentanyl pills, over 140 pounds of fentanyl powder, over 135 kilos of cocaine, over 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 35 kilos of heroin, 49 firearms & over $2 million in cash,” Interim Tempe Police Chief Josie Montenegro said.
According to authorities, “numerous” people were taken into custody in the bust.
Phoenix DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz said investigators are “laser-focused” on the Sinaloa cartel.
“I want to be crystal clear, the drugs in this room & the drugs that are flooding Arizona every single day are sourced primarily by one evil as the Sinaloa drug cartel,” she said. “We are laser-focused on them & we will defeat them. We will not stop.”
The country is struggling with a decades-long opioid epidemic in which fentanyl has become the most commonly used drug involved in overdoses.
Deaths involving synthetic opioids increased by 22% in 2021, according to CDC data, & in 2022, there were about 181,806 nonfatal opioid overdoses recorded in the U.S.
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