MJP –
Authorities announced on Thursday that while a flatbed truck trailer trying to enter the country via the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in California was searched, 361 pounds of fentanyl and cocaine were found, concealed within.
On Wednesday, authorities from US Customs and Border Protection confiscated almost 1,000 pounds of fentanyl at the border crossing at Lukeville, Arizona. The finding was made on August 9 at the border crossing, where agents utilized a K-9 team in the secondary inspection area. The photo is courtesy of the U.S. Border Patrol.
Following a thorough search, customs, and border protection agents found items concealed in a non-factory compartment within the flatbed trailer’s framework. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced in a statement that its officers had successfully seized 77 parcels containing 227.96 pounds of cocaine and 50 packages containing 133.60 pounds of fentanyl powder.
In response to a surge in drugs trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border, CBP initiated Operation Apollo in October in southern California and later expanded it to Arizona in April.
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According to CBP, the greatest fentanyl bust ever occurred on August 14 in Arizona, yielding over half a ton of the drug. A methamphetamine bust was conducted by agents within a few days.
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“The estimated street value for these two significant seizures is over $12.6 million,” according to CBP.
“Operation Apollo focuses on intelligence collection and partnerships and utilizes local CBP field assets augmented by federal, state, local, tribal and territorial partners to boost resources, increase collaboration and target the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States,” according to CBP.
The CDC reports that over 150 individuals die daily from opioid overdoses, including those involving fentanyl and other synthetic substances derived from it.
Drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, claimed the lives of more than 150 individuals daily. You wouldn’t be able to detect the presence of illicitly manufactured fentanyl by sight, smell, or taste, but it may be present in lethal quantities in drugs.
